Harry Garside has officially confirmed the worst kept secret in global athletics: plenty of Olympians were hooking up on their single cardboard beds in Paris.
During the wide-ranging interview about his early exit in the first week of the Games, the Australian boxer said the infamously labelled ‘anti-sex’ beds in the Olympic Village hadn’t deterred any sexual activities.
‘I’m telling you right now, the beds are fine!’ he told the Hit Network’s Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little.
The Olympic Village cardboard beds made their debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and were swiftly dubbed the ‘anti-sex’ beds.
Rumours circulated that cardboard had been used to deter athletes from getting intimate with one another to avoid spreading Covid-19.
Carrie went on to ask Harry about his loss in the first-round bout in the men’s 63.5kg boxing.
All it took was nine minutes for the Tokyo bronze medalist to see his lifelong dreams of bringing home a gold medal evaporate.
Emotionally broken, Garside walked away from the ring to a quiet corner and collapsed, sobbing deeply.
The boxer then apologised to Australia, saying he ‘felt like a failure’.
Harry Garside (pictured) has officially confirmed the worst kept secret in global athletics: plenty of Olympians were hooking up on their single cardboard beds in Paris
During the wide-ranging interview about his early exit in the first week of the Games, the Australian boxer said the infamously labelled ‘anti-sex’ beds in the Olympic Village hadn’t deterred any sexual activities
‘Did you get a chance to party at the Olympics?’ she asked.
‘Did I ever?’ Garside laughed in response.
‘I was out quite early, so I planned on being in comp for the whole time, boxing goes for the two weeks. I was out early so I had ten days of eating bad food.’
‘I put on like 10kg in about 7 days eating bad food, red wine, having plenty of beers with my dad, he continued.
Garside was unable to hide his heartbreak as his 20-year dream was crushed in just nine minutes at the Olympic Games.
Garside, 27, fell to Hungary’s Richard Kovacs by unanimous decision in their round of 16 clash, a shock result given the Victorian won bronze in Tokyo and was targeting gold this time around.
The popular boxer had to cut short his media duties after breaking down, having initially said he had let his country down.
‘I feel like a failure,’ Garside said.
‘It’s a wild sport, after three years for it to be over just like… I feel very numb, I didn’t envision this happening.
‘I love Australia and I really envisioned winning that gold medal for Australia.’
‘I’m telling you right now, the beds are fine!’ he told the Hit Network’s Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little
Harry Garside pictured during his first-round fight in the Paris 2024 Olympics, which he lost to Hungarian Richard Kovacs
Speaking earlier to Nine, Garside – who has been open about his mental health battles – made the worrying admission that he is concerned about the next few months as he comes to terms with his defeat.
‘I feel pretty numb right now but I feel the next month or two will be quite challenging, quite hard.
‘I fear for my mind, it gets the better of me, I feel like I let a few people down but what do you do?
‘Australia’s such a sporting nation and I’m so sorry.
‘I feel like a failure right now. I don’t even know what to say.
‘I know sportsmen are just supposed to say the right thing right now and thank you so much but deep down inside I fear for what the next couple of months look like for myself,’ a visibly shattered Garside said.
‘I’m sure there’ll be some dark times mate, I’ve got to be prepared for that now.’
Harry Garside shared his heartbreak after seeing his Olympics dream crushed