It’s hard to believe that the 2024 Paris Games were not all that long ago. The top athelets from around the world came together to put on a show that millions, if not billions turned in to watch.
The best of the best would take something away as a memoir of their time in Paris, an Olympic medal. Those medals, gold, silver, and bronze have been a part of the Olympic tradition for centuries, but something unexpected happened this year.
Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, two French swimmers shared pictures of their bronze medals. They had taken the medals home after the Olympics when they won the 4×100 m medley relay.
Yohann Ndoye-Brouard expressed how disappointed he was that his Olympic medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics was fading so quickly. He referred to it as being ‘crocodile skin’ and his teammates said that it may have been mistaken for something made 100 years ago.
The 24-year-old swimmer wrote: “Paris 1924” when he shared the picture.
Many people were surprised that the Olympic committee would give out medals that would look like this so quickly. One even said ‘Those from Paris 1924 are in better condition.’
Many others chimed in to say how disappointed they were in the look of the medals, saying that they should have it cleaned professionally and put in an airtight case to keep it from breaking down further.
Others, however, said that it was to be expected. One said ‘It’s the natural process of oxidation and corrosion of bronze due to lack of maintenance and cleaning of the medal. Color transformation and texture changes due to patina is seen on the medals. Stop complaining!’
Other Olympians from the Paris 2024 Olympics were also disappointed and were speaking about how their medals had changed in appearance since they took them home.
Nyjah Huston, an Olympic skateboarder for Team USA said: “Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they are 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 are apparently not as high quality as you would think.”
He went on to say: “I mean look at that thing, it’s looking rough. Even the front is starting to chip off a little. So I don’t know … Olympic medals, you gotta maybe step up the quality a little bit.”
British diver Yasmin Harper spoke about the medal showing signs of ‘tarnishing’. She said: “There’s been some small bits of tarnishing. I think it’s water or anything that gets under metal, it’s making it go a little bit discolored, but I’m not sure.”
Organizers from the Paris Olympics said that they were looking into the claims and would do something about it. In a statement, they said: “Paris 2024 is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded.
“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.”