Olympic gymnast calls out the media for 'fake news' on the 'anti-sex beds'

There’s a viral story going around that claims the beds at the Olympics, which are made out of recycled cardboard so they can be disposed of after the games, were designed in such a way that they would collapse if athletes attempt to have sex on them as some sort of precaution against COVID-19:

This is the craziest story. In order to prevent Olympians from having sex, and thus risk spreading the Covid virus, beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are made from cardboard so they collapse if more than one person gets on them! pic.twitter.com/RZKEPbcr4x

— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️‍🌈 (@aravosis) July 17, 2021

These claims, however, are totally bogus:

Where did you hear that these are anti-sex beds, source please https://t.co/VMxUK0DO8G

— Walter Thompson (@YourProtagonist) July 17, 2021

For starters, the beds were announced before COVID-19 was even a thing:

Speaking of both the news and Twitter being terrible, I really need people to stop tweeting about the supposed "anti-sex" covid prevention Olympic beds that were announced before covid existed

— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) July 17, 2021

And, as you might expect, athletes are going to be quick to test them out:

So many Olympic athletes are going to be testing out those anti-sex cardboard beds

— Cam Banks (@boymonster) July 18, 2021

Here’s Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan calling out the media for this “fake news” and showing just how sturdy the beds are:

“Anti-sex” beds at the Olympics pic.twitter.com/2jnFm6mKcB

— Rhys Mcclenaghan (@McClenaghanRhys) July 18, 2021

But, alas, the story continues. Here’s Deadspin, for example:

https://twitter.com/jesslahey/status/1416879315409571844

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