Winning a medal at the Olympics is a moment to cherish for the rest of your life. While some aim to win more in the next edition, some can only manage one medal in their whole career, and it remains their biggest achievement. Thus, they keep that piece of medal safely in their houses, showcasing what they achieved through their hard work and dedication. But when the metal provided is not of good quality and deteriorates before they can even take it home, it is a matter of concern.

That’s exactly what has happened in Paris. USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston won the bronze medal at the men’s street skateboarding final on July 29. In an Instagram story posted on August 8, he showed the state of the medal after barely 10 days. He 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.”

In another post, he joked that the medal looked like it went to war and came back. This might be a bit of a crisis for the organizers, as another athlete previously came forward with her complaint.

British athlete criticizes the quality of the Olympic medal

Yasmin Harper won Britain’s first medal in this edition with a bronze in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard, along with her teammate Scarlett Mew Jensen. Harper has come out and said that the medals are already losing their color and are getting tarnished. She said, “Yes, I have looked at mine. A little bit [of tarnishing]. 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 discoloured.” 

The organizers of the games said that they were aware of the social media posts and were looking into them. They added that they were closely working with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution that made the medal. Their main objective is to find out why the conditions of the medals are worsening so quickly and improve on them. The medal has historic significance as it has a piece of the Eiffel Tower in it, which was preserved during its recent renovations. But all this is worthless if the athlete can’t even enjoy one of their career’s greatest achievements due to the poor condition of the metal. This is not the first controversy this game has been subjected to, as there have been numerous cases when they have come to light.

Other controversies that have happened at the Paris Olympics

There have been numerous controversies at the Paris Olympics. The most famous one is the boxing controversy. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has been subjected to numerous issues in the gender eligibility test. She was born with XY chromosomes as a child instead of the XX found in women. Though she was not allowed to participate in the World Championships in 2023 because of this, she was allowed to compete in Paris. After this, she has been subjected to numerous social media trollings, as many claim that she’s transgender and performs in the women’s category.

Another controversy happened when social media erupted again. This was during the opening ceremony. Users thought that some performers stood in a pose and sequence that resembled the Leonardo Da Vinci painting ‘The Last Supper’. Many criticized this as disrespectful to a certain section of the world. While there have been a few other controversies too, these are the two major ones that have gained a lot of traction. It remains to be seen whether these two events will take on a bigger shape or die down soon.