Are you outfitting a dorm room? Do you have a fanatic crush on Michael Phelps? Did you lose your signed pair of Usain Bolt's running shorts and are in dire need of new memorobilia to take its place? If one or all of these is the case, the Internet has a remedy for what's ailing you.
To recoup some of the $15 billion London will have spent on the 2012 Olympics, the city is unrolling "Remains of the Games," a massive online estate sale of all the wares used in the Olympic Village. Before the 11,000 or so athletes have even broken them in, you can lay claim to one of their beds, bean bags, or outdoor folding tables, stamped with an official seal of authenticity. Entire bedroom sets, including the bed, mattress, nightstand, and lamp Jordyn Weiber may or may not have used are going for £99 ($155), and a delightfully tacky purple chaise longue under the site's "Conversation Pieces" section is up for grabs for £199 ($312). Other Bed Bath & Beyond-type swag includes 14,872 LED lamps, 6,326 cushions, 7,496 clothes drying racks, and 17,978 folding chairs for £8 each ($12.50), according to the Guardian.
This gold-medal deal comes with a few catches: For starters, despite the star status of an Olympic athlete, he or she gets put up in an Ikea-style dorm room for the two-week duration of the games. "It is a bit difficult for me to lie down," said Sierra Leone sprinter Ibrahim Turay of his pint-sized bed.
And before you go off bragging that you’ve got Carmelo Anthony's dresser, you should know that you don’t get to verify the goods' previous owner. While he or she could've been a star sprinter, there's also the possibility he or she was an organizer or member of the media — or, worse yet, a lowly canoe sprinter. "Who actually used each item? Their new owners will never know," Paul Levin, marketing executive for official supplier Ramler Furniture, told the Telegraph. "But there is definitely a fun factor in speculating who slept on the bed, or which athlete pressed the switch on their lamp as they turned off the light the night before the most important day of their life."
So did Phelps rest his heels on your new ottoman? Or did a pair of Chinese badminton players get it on in your new twin bed (the Olympic Village is reportedly like college dorms in that respect, too)? It's all up to speculation, but you've got nothing to lose by spending $12 for a new folding chair. Order now and receive your item at Paralympic Games' end.
To see gymnast and London Olympics ambassador Louis Smith tour the Ramler Furniture warehouse, watch the video clip below.