Olympic officials have responded after a US athlete disclosed the current state of a bronze medal he had won just a few days earlier.
Skateboarder Nyjah Huston earned a bronze medal for Team USA in Paris on 29 July, after being outperformed by Japan’s Yuto Horigome and fellow American Jagger Eaton in the men’s street final.
However, only a few days post-award, Huston expressed dissatisfaction with the medal’s quality.
The athlete recently took to Instagram to share how his medal had seemingly deteriorated since he returned home.
Speaking in a post on his Instagram Story, Huston said: “Alright, so 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 letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think. It’s looking rough.”
Huston called on the Olympics to ‘step up the quality’ of their medals, saying: “I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit.”
Along with the post, Huston shared an image on social media of the medal noting it ‘looked like it went to war and back’.
The Olympian also posted a screenshot of someone who had seen the snap of the medal, who told him: “Looks like ya won that thing in 1982 mate.”
Since the story gained traction, Olympic officials have issued a response.
A spokesperson has since told Mail Sport: “Paris 2024 is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded.
“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 IOC also told LADbible Group: “The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most precious for the athletes.
“Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.”
Huston is no stranger to medals, as he has previously won 12 medals at the X Games.
He has also emerged victorious six times in the World Championships, in addition to securing nine silver medals and four bronze medals across both competitions.