Fool’s gold: The medal scandal casting a shade over the Paris Olympics

Multiple athletes have started to complain that their Paris 2024 Olympic medals have already started to tarnish and chip, according to BBC Sport.

Nyjah Huston, who won bronze in the men’s street skateboarding competition for the USA, released an Instagram video in which he described his medal as “looking rough,” despite only owning it for slightly over a week!

Hutson’s video continued with the American claiming, “even the front is starting to chip off a little,” not what you’re hoping for having worked so hard to win a medal.

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The American lifted the lid on the state of his bronze medal, saying, “These Olympic medals look great when they're brand new. But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they're apparently not as high quality as you would think.”

The skateboarder even offered some advice for Olympic organizers, saying, “Olympic medals, you've maybe got to step up the quality a little bit,” perhaps when the Games are held in his home state of California, the medals will be of a higher standard.

Hutson is certainly not the only medallist from the Games to be complaining about their medal’s quality, with Yasmin Harper from Team GB also claiming her medal is starting to tarnish.

Harper, along with Scarlett Mew Jensen, won Team GB’s first medal of the Games in the women's 3m synchronised springboard diving. Now, her bronze medal is, “a little bit discoloured,” per BBC Sport.

Harper offered a theory on why her medal has started to worsen already, saying, “I think it's water or anything that gets under metal.”

The British diver was ultimately fairly calm about the situation, given, “it's still a medal”.

BBC Sport has reported the Paris organizers will happily replace any medals that get damaged, which could certainly add to the Games’ budget if they are starting to show signs of wear and tear already!

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