Organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games have pledged to replace athletes’ rusty medals after Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston revealed their condition a week after winning his bronze medal in Paris.
On Thursday, the 29-year-old showed his Instagram followers how his medal began to chip shortly after returning to the United States.
As the story gains traction, Olympic organizers have promised to replace the damaged medals.
“Paris 2024 is aware of a social media post from an athlete whose medal was found to be damaged a few days after it was awarded,” a Games spokesperson told Mail Sport.
‘Paris 2024 is working closely with Monnaie de Paris, the institution responsible for the production and quality control of the medals, and with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete in question, to assess the medal and thus gain insight into the circumstances and cause of the damage.’
Olympic organizers will replace rusty medals after Nyjah Huston addresses the condition of his
Huston’s bronze medal from Paris began to wear off after his celebration in the United States
Huston took a bronze medal in the French capital, finishing behind gold winner Yuto Horigome of Japan and compatriot Jagger Eaton in the men’s street final.
A few days after returning to the United States, Huston shared his thoughts on the quality of the hardware and explained what small activities caused wear and tear on the medal.
“Okay, these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,” he said.
“But after I let it sit on my skin for a while and treated it with some sweat, and after I let my friends wear it over the weekend,” Huston continues before pausing and focusing the camera on his medal.
The fact that the medal is of poor quality is evident from the fact that the bronze colour is chipping off in several places.
“They’re obviously not as high quality as you would think,” he said, before zooming in on the crumbling colors. “It looks rough.”
The 29-year-old took a podium finish behind Yuto Horigome and Jagger Eaton
Huston has 12 gold medals from the X Games and six from the world championships
Huston joked on Instagram that his medal looked like he’d been “to war and back”
Although the back of the medal was significantly more damaged, the front was not safe from the damage either, as Huston turned the medal over for the camera.
“I don’t know, Olympic medals, we need to raise the quality a little bit,” he says in the clip.
Huston is a 12-time X Games gold medalist and a six-time world championship gold medalist, with nine silvers and four bronzes in both competitions.
While his Olympic debut ended in a podium finish, his prized piece of Games memorabilia lost its prestige not long after his victory. In another slide, Huston joked that the medal looked like it had “been to war and back.”
“The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most valuable to the athletes,” the spokesman added. “Damaged medals are systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.”
