A member of the USA skateboard team has criticised the quality of the Olympic medals after the bronze he won started to deteriorate.
Nyjah Huston revealed the markedly different condition of his medal just a week after winning it in Paris, with the backside of the medal chipped and losing its bronze colour.
“So these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,” Huston said in the video posted on Instagram. “But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and letting my friends wear it over the weekend...look at that thing” before zooming in on the medal to show the damage.
Huston is no stranger to collecting medals, having won gold 12 times in the X Games and six times in the World Championships. He also has nine silvers and four bronzes across both competitions.
“They’re [the Olympic medals] apparently not as high quality as you’d think,” he added. “It’s looking rough.
US Olympian Nyjah Huston poses with his bronze medal. Photo / Getty Images
“I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit. The medal [is] looking like it went to war and back.”
Each medal awarded at this Olympics, including silver and bronze, contains a piece of the Eiffel Tower preserved during renovations to the Paris landmark.
Each forms an 18-gram hexagon in the middle of every medal, and on the back is the goddess of victory, Nike.
The Paris Mint made just over 5000 medals in total, with 2600 for the Olympics and 2400 for the Paralympics. Each weighs around 530g and was designed by the luxury brand Chaumet, which provides a dark blue box for each medal.
The size of the medals at the Paris Games has been remarked upon, but the sizing has been standardised since London 2012 with every summer Games medal a width of 85mm exactly.
Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.
