South Korean Weightlifter Reports Cracked Cardboard Bed, Renewing Tokyo Olympics Corrugated Packaging Debate

Chinese media reports dated July 28 noted that, with the Tokyo Olympics in full swing, earlier concerns about the Olympic Village’s expensive cardboard beds cracking had become reality. The news quickly set off a wave of discussion online.

The beds inside Tokyo Olympic Village rooms are assembled from more than 50 pieces of corrugated cardboard formed into box-style units, with polyethylene mattresses and no screws or glue. Organizers cited “environmental protection” and the goal of helping the Tokyo Organizing Committee reduce labor costs. Each bed costs roughly JPY 150,000–250,000, or about RMB 8,800–15,000. Manufacturer Airweave had said the 2.1-meter-long cardboard bed could support around 200 kg; Takashi Kitajima, general manager of the Tokyo Olympic Village, went further, calling it sturdier than a wooden bed. On July 19, the International Olympic Committee also posted on social media that the beds were “very sturdy.”

But after the beds’ “real condition” surfaced on social media, many people worried they would split. American track and field athlete Paul Chelimo was openly dismissive, saying the bed would surely collapse and that he would practice sleeping on the floor. Once in the Tokyo Olympic Village, he also kept complaining on social media that “this bed does not work.”

Amid public concern over the beds’ quality, Chinese weightlifter Li Wenwen posted a video on social media on July 21 telling people not to worry, because she slept on the floor. Li had weighed 147.95 kg when she swept three gold medals at the 2019 World Championships. Unlike Li’s “clever” approach, South Korean men’s over-109 kg weightlifter Jin Yun-seong (transliterated) was less fortunate. On local time July 27, he posted on social media that the bed he slept on in the Olympic Village had “cracked.”

Jin complained that the cardboard bed—promoted as using various high-tech features and novel design and able to bear 200 kg—had cracked, with the joint between the bed board and the bed legs completely broken. He then joked resignedly, “Just hold on for one more week.” Although Jin did not say why the bed cracked, a week earlier a New Zealand team rower had sat down and collapsed a cardboard bed, prompting a round of doubts about the beds’ quality.

After Jin’s experience of not even having an intact bed to sleep on, South Korean netizens reacted angrily, complaining and calling on the South Korean team to follow the US team’s example and “escape” the Olympic Village for better-equipped hotels. Some South Korean netizens even asked, “To what extent do the Japanese want to show their bad side?” Chinese netizens, by contrast, focused on the price, noting that more than 50 pieces of corrugated cardboard were worth RMB 8,800–15,000 and calling the price absurd.

It is also worth noting that many Tokyo Olympics prices were high and drew widespread complaints. On July 27, after winning gold in the mixed team 10 m air pistol event, Chinese athlete Jiang Ranxin was asked in a media interview why she had not taken a photo with the mascot in the Tokyo Olympic Village. She revealed: “Because it costs money, 5,000 yen (about RMB 295.46) each time.” Many netizens were shocked, with some exclaiming, “Have they taken in all the economists in the world? Monetizing everything.”

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-377953.html