**Olympic gold medals are the ultimate symbol of athletic achievement, but the truth behind how they’re made might just tarnish their shine for some.**
**Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston recently ignited a firestorm of controversy when he shared the shocking condition of his bronze medal just a week after winning it at the 2024 Paris Olympics.**
 **Huston, who claimed third place in the men’s street final, took to Instagram on August 8th to reveal what his once-pristine bronze medal now looked like after a few days of normal wear and tear.**
**The medal, which should be a proud keepsake, appeared scratched, chipped, and generally worse for wear, leading Huston to quip that it “went to war and back.”**
**”Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand-new,” Huston said, clearly frustrated. “But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think.”**
**Huston isn’t the only Olympian dismayed by the poor quality of this year’s medals.**
**Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, who snatched gold from Simone Biles in the floor gymnastics final, echoed his sentiments, calling it “sad” that she couldn’t even wear her medals without damaging them.**
 **”They [the medals] are knocking against each other and are scratching. I’m getting sad,” Andrade lamented. “And I don’t want to be sad. So I’m not going to wear them around my neck anymore. I’m going to walk around with two in my hands and two in my pocket.”**
**It’s an embarrassing situation for the Paris Olympics, but it begs the question: What are these medals actually made of?**
 **Despite their illustrious reputation, Olympic gold medals are not solid gold—a fact that might surprise many.**
 **According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), gold medals are required to be at least 92.5 percent silver, coated with a mere six grams of pure gold.**
**This practice of using silver with a gold coating has been in place for over a century; the last time pure gold medals were awarded was back at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.**
**So, while they may look like solid gold on the podium, these medals are more silver than anything else, making their vulnerability to wear and tear all the more understandable—if not any less disappointing for the athletes who’ve earned them.**
**The backstory of Olympic medals dates back to the very first modern Games in 1896 in Athens, where winners were awarded silver medals, as gold was reserved for royalty.**
 **It wasn’t until the 1904 St. Louis Games that gold medals were introduced, symbolizing the pinnacle of athletic achievement.**
 **However, due to the cost and scarcity of gold, the practice of creating medals out of solid gold was short-lived, leading to the introduction of silver-coated medals.**
 **This allowed the IOC to maintain the grandeur of the Games without the astronomical expense of solid gold.**
**Fast forward to the present day, and the Paris 2024 medals were designed by the prestigious Paris jewelry house Chaumet and manufactured by the Paris Mint.**
 **The process was intended to reflect both tradition and modernity, with each medal meticulously crafted to be a symbol of excellence.**
**But clearly, something went awry in the production of these coveted awards, as athletes like Huston and Andrade quickly discovered that their medals were not holding up to even casual handling.**
 **Danish badminton player Viktor Axelsen also shared a close-up video of his gold medal, showcasing similar issues, which left many wondering why these medals aren’t standing the test of time.**
**The controversy has left a sour taste in the mouths of many Olympians, who expect their hard-earned medals to last a lifetime, not just a few days.**
**In response to the growing outcry, a spokesperson for the Paris Games promised that damaged medals would be replaced.**
 **”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,” the spokesperson told Mail Sport.**
**”The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most precious for the athletes,” they added. “Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.”**
**However, for some athletes, the damage has already been done—both to their medals and their memories of Olympic glory.**
**The revelations about the construction of these medals have left many questioning the integrity of the symbols that are supposed to represent the pinnacle of human athletic achievement.**
**As more athletes come forward with stories of their tarnished medals, the Paris 2024 organizers find themselves scrambling to address a scandal they never saw coming.**
 **It’s not just about replacing the damaged goods; it’s about restoring the faith of the athletes and the public in the Olympics themselves.**
**For now, the Paris Games are under the microscope, and the world is watching closely to see how they handle this unexpected PR disaster.**
 **And while the athletes might eventually get new, pristine medals, the story of how Olympic gold lost its luster in Paris will be one that sticks around long after the Games are over.**