The quality of the Olympic medals awarded to athletes in Paris 2024 has come under scrutiny after a skateboarder on the US team claimed that the bronze medal he won had lost value after just one week.
Nyjah Huston, who finished third in the men’s skateboard street event, said in a video posted on Instagram that his bronze medal had chipped and was losing its color just days after the win.
He said the medal looked like it had “been to war and back,” adding that it was “not as high quality as you would think” because the bronze appeared to have been rubbed off.
The Olympic medals awarded in Paris are made from a piece of recycled scrap metal from the Eiffel Tower – and over 5,000 of them were produced by the French Mint especially for the Games.
“Okay, these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,” Huston said in the post to his five million followers.
“But after leaving it for a while with some sweat on my skin and letting my friends wear it over the weekend…” he continued, before zooming in on the medal to show its condition.
“They don’t seem to be as high quality as you would think… It looks rough… I don’t know, with Olympic medals we need to raise the quality a little bit.”
While the bronze medal in Paris was his first medal at the Olympic Games, the 29-year-old has won gold in skateboarding 12 times at the X-Games and six times at the World Championships.
The American also won several silver and bronze medals in both competitions.
The Independent has asked Paris 2024 for comment
