Some Olympic athletes have been forced to return medals just weeks after the conclusion of the 2024 Paris Olympics competition as a result of the medals deteriorating. This has sparked a lot of conversation among fans about the quality of the 2024 Paris Olympics medal.
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American skateboarder Nyjah Huston became the first athlete to publicly criticize the quality of the bronze medals. Huston won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 29, and a few days later, he posted an Instagram story showing the medal appeared to have degraded significantly, with the surface looking dull and rusted.
“They’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think. It’s looking rough. I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit. The medal looking like it went to war and back.”
Another Olympic bronze medalist from Great Britain, Yasmin Harper, who claimed bronze with partner Scarlett Mew Jensen in the women's 3m synchronized springboard diving, has also thrown shade at the medal. She complained about her medal's manufacturing quality. Although she claims the deterioration does not bother her, Harper said, “No, because it’s still a medal.”
“There has been some small bits of tarnishing I will admit, yes. I don’t know, I think it’s like water or anything that gets on the metal, it’s making it go a little bit discolored.”
An Irish athlete, Daire Lynch, has also revealed the poor condition of his medal after just two weeks since the conclusion of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Lynch, in a TV interview accompanied by fellow 2024 Paris Olympic medalists, said
“There has been some small bits of tarnishing I will admit, yes. I don’t know, I think it’s like water or anything that gets on the metal, it’s making it go a little bit discolored.”
His fellow Irish rower, Doyle, shared his opinion.
Some of the gold but not too many but the bronze seems to be a chronic issue.'
Team USA fencer Nick Itkin has become the latest athlete to raise concerns about the deterioration of his medal. The 24-year-old claimed a bronze medal in Tokyo and followed it up with another podium finish in Paris, defeating Japan’s Kazuki Iimura 15-12 in the men's individual foil category.
However, Paris Olympics representatives broke their silence over the complaint on social media, assuring athletes that damaged medals would be “systematically replaced.”
'Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution tasked with the production and quality control of the medals, and together with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete concerned, in order to appraise the medal to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage.'
