Diver Tom Daley Gives Inside Look at Cardboard Beds in 2024 Paris Olympic Village

Simone Biles isn't the only Olympic icon making a comeback at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

After all, she—along with the thousands of athletes from across the globe—will be sleeping on an Airweave bed, which went viral during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for its fragile appearance and so-called "anti-sex" appeal. 

But the COO of the Japanese company Brett Thornton believes the disreputable label is a "blessing in disguise."

"The funny part is, there was no truth to that," he exclusively told E! News, explaining that COVID-19 protocols at the time were what inhibited athletes from mingling in the Olympic Village. "The rumor was that the Olympic teams didn't want athletes sleeping together, so they designed this flimsy cardboard bed so people wouldn't do that."

But these beds—which includes a cardboard frame and a mattress consisting of AirFiber—are actually a game-changer, according to Thornton.

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And how do they feel compared to a traditional spring mattress or memory foam bed? I tested it out—and the results were quite surprising.

Courtesy of Airweave

First of all, I have to admit that the beds do look flimsy. Even Thornton agreed, telling me when I recently went to check one out in-person, "If you look from the side of the cardboard, people see it and are like, 'How could that be sturdy?'"

But looks can be deceiving. As I laid down on the bed, its frame did not budge or slip out of place. In fact, it didn't creak like other rickety furniture.

The mattress—which is actually comprised of a padded slipcover and three individual cushions, each with a side of moderate firmness and another ranging from soft to extra firm—had a sturdy bounce to it.

And while I did appreciate that the cushions in the mattress can be easily flipped and arranged to different configurations of varying firmness to support my shoulder, waist and legs, I found the softest option was still firmer than my memory foam bed.

Gabrielle Chung/E! News

However, as Thornton noted, an Airweave mattress is not made to be so plush that you can sink into it. But rather, it's a luxury firm bed that aims to align your spine depending on your body shape and to provide you with a longer, deeper sleep.

"When you're sleeping at night and you're in memory foam and it's time to turn," he explained, "you actually have to put so much effort to turn that you wake up from a deep sleep. You come out of deep REM and then it takes you another five minutes to get back in."

Moreover, the large air pockets between the mattress' plastic fibers—and not to mention, the two giant air chambers on its cardboard bed frame—help drop the body's temperature for a cooler sleep, Thornton said.

"Your body core temp needs to drop about two degrees to fall asleep," he explained. "With AirFiber, you get there faster. So, athletes are falling asleep faster, which is gonna give you more energy the next day. Because it's temperature regulatory, you're going to stay asleep longer." 

Courtesy of Airweave

And when it's time to pack up the Olympic Village for good, Thornton said the mattress' AirFiber cores—which can actually be cleaned by just spraying water onto it—can be recycled at a local processing plant as well.

"There's the only innovation in this industry," he told me. "This is the first time there's been actually something totally different or unique."

As for my verdict? Despite its viral nickname, there's actually nothing discouraging people from having sex on this bed. At the end of the night, it all comes down to whether or not you want a plushier or firmer sleepover experience.

Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics daily on NBC and Peacock until the summer games end with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.