The controversy over “deteriorating” Olympic medals from the 2024 Paris games rages on, with reports that hundreds of athletes have requested replacement medals since last summer’s event.
An investigative report published Monday by French outlet La Lettre, the outlet which broke the news of the medals’ apparent cheap quality and manufacturing price in January 2024, claimed that over 100 Olympic and Paralympic athletes have contacted the Monnaie de Paris requesting replacement medals in the four months since the games. The Monnaie de Paris, the institution responsible for making France’s coins, produced more than 5,000 medals for the Paris games.
La Lettre reported that the French mint terminated three employees from its production and quality departments due to their involvement in the fiasco; but in a statement to People, the Monnaie de Paris called that claim “false.” Though the institution declined to confirm the exact number of complaints related to “damaged medals,” they confirmed that they’re working alongside 2024’s Olympic Organizing Committee "to assess medal claims and understand the circumstances and cause of damage."
In a separate statement to People, the French mint confirmed that the "replacement of [some] damaged medals has been initiated,” and promised that "all damaged medals will be replaced and identically engraved at the request of athletes during the first quarter of 2025."
A number of athletes have lodged public complaints about the quality and swift deterioration of their Olympic medals since the games concluded in August. American skateboarder Nyjah Houston, who won bronze in the men’s street skateboarding final, posted photos showing the rapid decline of his prize within just a few days. “It's looking rough!” Houston said in a since-deleted Instagram Story. “Even the front is starting to chip off a little. So I don't know…Olympic medals, you gotta maybe step up the quality a little bit.”
degraded quality of Paris Olympics bronze medal after a week.
— SAINT (@saint) August 9, 2024
Nyjah Huston, member of the USA skateboard team, raised concerns over the quality of the Olympic medals:
“these Olympic medals look good when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for… pic.twitter.com/7tDD9ZNhEL
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