First lady Jill Biden is en route to Japan to attend the Tokyo Olympics — but her accommodations will be far better than the infamous cardboard beds set up for athletes participating in the games.
The first lady’s office confirmed to The Post that she won’t have to sleep on the flimsy Olympic village furnishings, which some athletes suspect are designed to collapse under the weight of two people to discourage sex amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden spokesman Michael LaRosa also told The Post that she won’t be staying in a hotel. “She will not be staying in either,” he said.
LaRosa did not say where Mrs. Biden will be residing.
The first lady will represent the Biden administration at the Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday — should the games go ahead. She will make a stop in Alaska on Wednesday and will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday.
The fate of the international event was cast into doubt this week when the local Olympics organizing committee chief said he may cancel the games at the last minute. Few Japanese are vaccinated against COVID-19 and infections are rising.
“We will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases,” Tokyo 2020 organizing committee leader Toshiro Muto said Tuesday.
“We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.”
The 2020 Olympics already was delayed one year due to the pandemic, but Japanese medical leaders agitated for this year’s gathering to be nixed as well, including because of the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19, which has torn through India, the UK and unvaccinated parts of the US.
In Japan, just 23 percent of people are fully vaccinated against the virus.
The “anti-sex” cardboard beds caught headlines as athletes arrived in Japan. The beds are ostensibly designed to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission, though Olympics organizers also banned alcohol to curb socializing.
American distance runner Paul Chelimo was among the first to call attention to the unusual boxsprings, writing on Twitter, “Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes.”
But Irish gymnast Rhys Mcclenaghan declared the anti-sex theory “fake news” and posted a shirtless video of himself bouncing on the bed.
The post Jill Biden headed to Japan for Olympics — but won’t have to sleep on a cardboard bed appeared first on The News Amed.