How fast can you run 100 meters? Now, how fast can you run 100 meters when you're sleep deprived?
That's the question Saatva hopes no athlete will need to ask during the 2028 Olympics, as the sleep brand partners with Team USA and LA28 to deliver luxury mattresses to athletes from around the world.
For Saatva, this is more than a simple sponsorship, and I spoke to Saatva CEO Ron Rudzin to learn more about why this collaboration matters to anyone who has felt held back by bad sleep.
"I wanted to really talk about how restorative sleep helps you with hitting peak performance, to optimize your time awake during the day whether it's sports or your work," explains Rudzin.
He describes it as "unlocking a superpower by taking sleep seriously" and for Rudzin, the Olympics are the perfect place for that message:
"What a great way to tell our story. Let's sponsor the Olympics."
"A split second can make or break your name"
Remember the notorious cardboard mattresses from the Paris Olympics? If you don't, a quick refresh: the mattresses in the 2024 Olympic Village were made of actual cardboard, earning ire from some competitors.
Every [athlete]'s going to be really well prepared, well rested
Ron Rudzin, CEO of Saatva
"There was some rumbling of the athletes during the Paris Olympics that they weren't really weren't comfortable with their sleeping arrangements," is how Rudzin politely puts it ("My back is about to fall off" is how one athlete described their mattress.)
"I said, let's see if we could solve this" — and a collaboration between a luxury sleep brand and the biggest sporting event on the planet was formed.
"I think for that one moment in life, where a split second can make or break your name in life, every [athlete]'s going to be really well prepared, well rested," explains Rudzin.
Sleep and athletic performance
It's more than just comfort for the competitors, as good sleep benefits athletic performance. However, in 2021 a consensus statement released by sleep and sport specialists found that elite athletes are particularly susceptible to poor rest.
In turn, a lack of sleep is linked to sluggish response times, reduced balance and motor control, and slower injury recovery. Several nights of insufficient sleep can also lead to an increase in pre-training fatigue. In other words, competitors are feeling tired before they've made it to the starting blocks.
To help athletes reach peak performance, Saatva's kitting the Olympic village with a mattress for; "every athlete that comes to Los Angeles from all over the world." (In addition, Saatva is equipping members of Team USA with a pillow and mattress topper ahead of the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics.)
"We're working with our athletes and we're also working with the Olympic Committee for design and testing and things of that nature," says Rudzin. "We're building a terrific product for them,"
Saatva's current athlete ambassadors include Jessie Diggins, Lauren Macuga, Brenna Huckaby, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Noah Elliott, and Team USA legends Tara Lipinski, Jessica Long, and Shani Davis.
"These athletes like Lauren Macuga, she wakes up at 5:30, and many times it's in 15 to below zero weather, and she skis 80 miles an hour, and she sleeps nine hours a day."
"That's the story that I want to tell," says Rudzin.
"The only time you feel above average is when you wake up feeling fresh"
Rudzin hopes this collaboration will draw attention not only to the mattresses, but also to the importance of sleep for everyday performance.
Your day doesn't start when you wake up, it starts before you go to sleep
Ron Rudzin, CEO of Saatva
"I think we're all basically average, and the only time you feel above average is when you wake up feeling fresh."
While that might not translate to a missed medal opportunity, sleep deprivation can result in a low mood, trouble concentrating and impaired decision making, potentially causing troubles in both your work and personal life.
Rudzin believes the best way to avoid sleep deprivation is through preparation:
"I always say that your day doesn't start when you wake up, it starts before you go to sleep."
In other words, we should approach sleep as Olympic athletes approach their sport: with dedication, preparation, training... and the right equipment.
"Go to sleep and prepare for it, like you do when you go for your workout," says Rudzin.
"You put on the right clothes, put on the right sneakers, right mindset. Same thing for sleep. Prepare the room. Make sure the temperature's right. Turn off your electronics, pull the sheets tight. Make sure you have the right bed. Make sure you have the right sheets."
"Really view it as an activity, and then you will wake up and you will feel better."
"We wanted to be the company that inspires the world to prioritize sleep"
Rudzin hints that this collaboration might benefit more than those booking a trip to LA28, with suggestions that an Olympic-inspired Saatva mattress for the "active, athletic body" might be on its way.
And prospective college students, you might want to bump UCLA to the top of your list. The campus, soon to be home to the Olympic Village, is set to benefit directly from the collaboration.
When it comes to restorative sleep... this makes us the winner
Ron Rudzin, CEO of Saatva
"We're leaving all the mattresses there," explains Rudzin, in a move I'm sure many students will hope will usher in a new era of dorm room comfort.
For now, however, Rudzin assures Saatva's existing mattress line-up can already boost performance; "Our beds are all designed for spinal alignment, they're designed for blood circulation, so they're the highest quality beds that you can get for restorative sleep." (The Saatva Classic currently has the honor of the best mattress we've tested for all sleep styles.)
"We realized when I started Saatva that we wanted to be the company that inspires the world to prioritize sleep," says Rudzin.
"I think when it comes to restorative sleep, or sleep being tied to health and wellness, this makes us the winner."
