This year in Paris, the Athletes' Village will be supplied with mattresses by veteran supplier Airweave. The Japanese company configures their titular product in four different densities, and prior to the 2020 Olympics, their plan had been to allow each athlete to specify which they preferred; different body types competing in different events have different needs, by body region.
However, this plan proved too logistically difficult to execute. The company then came up with a clever workaround. They broke the mattresses up into three pieces, with each piece having a different density on each side. The athletes can thus configure the mattress to their liking, while a new topper holds everything together.
"Similar to the mattress used for Tokyo 2020, the Paris 2024 functional mattress consists of three blocks with varying firmness on each side. This function enables all the athletes in different body shapes and sizes to find the ideal configuration to ensure a comfortable sleep."
Enhanced by the addition of a fitted mattress cover, the new design streamlines the process flipping and rotating the blocks while keeping them in place."
Enter a caption (optional)
And conveniently for transportation purposes, the mattress segments can be rolled up.
Airweave will be providing roughly 16,000 mattresses to the Athletes' Village. Following the Olympics, the washable mattresses will be donated to a variety of organizations including the French military, the Paris Opera Ballet School and various corporate dormitories.
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.