BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Damaged and defective medals won by athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be replaced in the coming weeks, organisers said, after French media said that more than 100 medals had already been returned. The thousands of medals handed out during the Games were produced by France’s state mint.
“The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint), the institution responsible for the manufacture and quality control of the medals, to assess any complaints about the medals and to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage,” the IOC said.“Defective medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told AFP Monday that the “defective medals” from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be replaced with identical models.
“The replacement process should begin in the coming weeks.”
A spokesperson for the Monnaie de Paris refuted the term “defective” and said that the medals signalled by athletes as being “damaged” since the month of August have already been replaced, AFP said.
“We have replaced all the damaged medals since August and we will continue to do so in the same professional manner as before,” said the spokesperson, adding that replacements were “underway” and were being made “as requests come in”.
According to French online media outlet La Lettre, “more than 100 defective medals have been returned by disgruntled athletes”, who have seen their awards deteriorate.
Some Olympians from the Paris Games took to social media to share photos of their medals.
One such athlete was American skateboarder Nyjah Huston, who won bronze in the street skateboarding competition on July 29.
Ten days later he posted a picture of his medal, where he complained about its quality.
“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,” he said.
“It’s looking rough. Even the front. It’s starting to chip off a little.”
According to La Lettre, the medals “had to bear the brunt of the new products used”, as new regulations banned a component of the varnish previously employed and “had to be replaced at short notice”.
The 5,084 gold, silver and bronze medals for Paris 2024 were designed by luxury jewellery and watch firm Chaumet (part of the LVMH conglomerate) and produced by the Monnaie de Paris.
Each medal contains a small piece of the Eiffel Tower, taken from the stocks of the Parisian monument’s operating company.
