Nathan Chen Has a Hilarious Way of Safekeeping His Olympic Gold, and He Is Not the Only One

An Olympic gold medal is a dream for every athlete. Be it the sentimental value or their weight value in the market, an Olympic gold is worth a lot. And Nathan Chen finally has one in his grasp. In Beijing, Nathan Chen became the first American to win the men’s title since Evan Lysacek in Vancouver in 2010.

But where exactly does he keep that medal? In a secure case? A wooden box? A glass display? No. He keeps that medal in his sock. And he is not the only one.

Nathan Chen and his unique way of safekeeping

Nathan Chen brought home the gold in March. And since then he has been busy giving interviews to every media channel that can get his hands on him. When TIME crowned him one of the 100 most influential people of 2022, of course, he made yet another appearance. 

Right at the start, we see Chen take out his medal from a sock, where he claims he keeps it to “prevent it from getting damaged”. Fans sure had a field day with this information, finding it a hilarious and endearing trait of the 23-year-old. Hopefully, when he got back, he transferred it to a proper case.

But Chen isn’t the only one who finds socks to be a perfect place to stash away Olympic gold. The two-time Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, has had similar ideas in the past. After Hanyu defended his title in Pyeongchang, he was also spotted taking his medal out of a sock for a broadcast.

READ MORE: IOC’s Latest Announcement Brings Back Hopes for Nathan Chen and Other US Stars’ Missed Beijing Olympics Ceremony Due to Russian Figure Skating Scandal

At the very least, he assured everyone that the sock was unused. Hanyu also once went viral for comparing his Sochi and Pyeongchang medals by not just size and weight, but also smell!

How much is a gold medal worth?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulates the build of the winners’ medals. According to them, gold medals are required to have at least 6 grams of pure gold and not less than 92.5 percent silver. 

And the Beijing 2022 Olympic medals followed these regulations. What does that mean in terms of money? Philip Newman, a founding partner and managing director of Metals Focus, a London-based research firm, puts their worth in gold and silver at $758.

In the past, athletes have sold their medals when they’ve found themselves in financial need. Some even did it to raise money for charities. Just last year, Poland’s Maria Magdalena Andrejczyk auctioned off her javelin throw silver for $125,000 to fund heart surgery for an 8-month-old. 

DIVE DEEPER: Figure Skating Legend Yuzuru Hanyu’s Rivals Are Scared of Skating on Ice After Him- Here’s Why

Either way, we’re glad to have found yet another similarity between the skating rivals.