The Olympic Village at the Paris 2024 Games is officially open — and athletes are already making themselves comfortable on the new beds.
Gymnast Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland, who has thousands of gay fans, has been getting physical in his apartment while also on social media, a journalist has shared the messaging athletes will see if they’re thinking about getting jiggy.
Early arrivals have been checking into rooms since Thursday on the 54-hectare main site, which has 3,000 apartments containing around 16,000 beds.
It’s expected that around 14,250 athletes, coaches and support staff will be staying in the Village between now and mid-August.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Related
![]()
![]()
Team LGBTQ at the 2024 Paris Summer Games
The list of out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary Olympians will continue to grow.
By Outsports | June 28, 2024
Due to social distancing instructions, an intimacy ban was in place at the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but this has been lifted for Paris.
The beds are of the same design as those used in Japan — single size but adjustable to different body types.
They are also entirely recyclable, having been made with cardboard bases and resin fibre mattresses.
Three years ago, some suggested they were deliberately constructed to be ‘anti-sex’ and would collapse under the strain of physical activity.
However, that myth was debunked by McClenaghan in a viral video — and now the often-shirtless 25-year-old has quickly put it to bed a second time.
“Maybe I wasn’t rigorous enough,” says the pommel horse world champion before launching into a high-energy routine that includes a belly flop and a handstand.
McClenaghan suffered a slip in the final in Tokyo, finishing seventh out of eight. Having won gold at each of the last two World Gymnastics Championships, he is tipped for success at the Bercy Arena on Aug. 3.
Also keen to test the beds and share the findings on social media was Tom Daley, who kept all his clothes on but did amuse many of his followers by adopting a rather risqué position at the end of his video. Ooh la la…
@tomdaley CARBOARD BEDS IN THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE! #paris2024 #olympics ♬ original sound – Tom Daley
‘On the field of love…’
Meanwhile, in further news from the Village, the condoms available to athletes have been revealed, and they carry messages about consent and safe sex.
Benoit Daragon, a reporter for Le Parisien, shared an image on X that shows the playful Phryges — the Paris 2024 mascots — appear on the prophylactic packaging alongside slogans such as “play fair” and “don’t share more than victory.”
Voici ce qui attend les athlètes dans le village olympique ! pic.twitter.com/4I3MeqG921
— Benoît Daragon (@bendarag) July 18, 2024
CNN recently reported that Games organizers would be running a “comprehensive sexual health campaign that champions pleasure and consent as well as the traditional emphasis on safety.”
The article adds: “The decision to focus on pleasure-inclusive messaging at the Olympics is especially significant at a time when sex education is increasingly under attack in many countries.”
Badminton player Kirsty Gilmour, who is representing Team GB (and also Team LGBTQ) at the Games, was asked in a Q&A with BBC Sport this week about the amount of condoms being made available to athletes. In March, it was claimed over 300,000 had been ordered.
“Listen, as someone in a same-sex relationship, that’s not my area of expertise, okay,” she said.
“But I can tell you that in Rio they were very readily available from dispensers akin to the ones you would put 20p in after the swimming and get jelly beans out.”
The first competitive action of the Paris Olympics will be held on July 24, with group matches in soccer and rugby sevens.
The handball tournament starts on Thursday, with Friday reserved for the spectacular opening ceremony on the Seine, while 21 more sports get underway on Saturday as the Olympics begins in earnest.