Winning an Olympic medal is a pinnacle moment for most athletes, but the well-earned piece of hardware has turned sour for some of the 2024 Paris Olympics competitors — but, they’ll be getting new ones, if they wish.
Monnaie de Paris, which produced the medals for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, said it will ‘replace all damaged medals at the athletes’ request’ after multiple complaints about the medals deteriorating and tarnishing.
Shortly after U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston won a bronze medal in July, he revealed the award was already showing some wear and tear, adding the front of it was chipped and that it lost its shine. British diver Yasmin Harper also said the bronze medal she won in the women’s 3-meter synchronized springboard diving event had ‘small bits of tarnishing.’
Evidently, Huston and Harper weren’t the only ones that had complaints. French website La Lettre said more than 100 medals from the Games were returned due to the decline in quality. Now, months after the Olympics ended, a process to replace the medals will begin.
“The Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, and has mobilized its internal teams,” it said in a statement to The Associated Press. ‘Since then, the company has modified and optimized its relative varnishing process. The Monnaie de Paris will replace all damaged medals at the athletes’ request during the first quarter of 2025.’
The International Olympic Committee also told the outlet that Paris organizers are in contact with the committees with athletes that have filed complaints, and the replacement process will start in the coming weeks.
USA TODAY Sports has reached out to Monnaie de Paris and the IOC for comment.
The medals were designed by Chaumet, a luxury French jeweler. Each weighing 18 grams, the most significant part of the medals is that every one of them includes a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower pieces were used in the hexagon shape in its iron color with the 2024 Olympic Games logo on it. The six metal appendages on the hexagon also came from the original Eiffel Tower.