EMBARRASSED Paris Olympics bosses have vowed to replace tarnished medals after a top athlete revealed his battered bronze.
American Skateboarder Nyjah Huston’s gong started to chip away in less than a week after he took the third stand on the podium.
Nyjah won the bronze medal for Team USA in the Men’s Street event at the Paris Olympics on July 29.
However, posting a clip on Instagram on August 8, the star skateboarder revealed the rusty metal’s shabby condition to his followers.
The coveted medal could be seen looking battered and peeling.
Bosses at the 2024 Summer Games have now said they will replace such chipped-away medals.
The organisers told the DailyMail: “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.”
Hutson insisted that the quality of the metal may not be as “high” as he initially thought and called for it to be improved.
Given that the medals are made from iron from the original Eiffel Tower, it’s no surprise Hutson felt his metal prize was a bit lacklustre.
He said: “The medals look great when they are brand new.
“But they look worse after I let them sit on my skin with some sweat for a little while and let my friends wear them over the weekend.
“They are apparently not as high quality as you would think.
“Even the front is starting to chip off a little so I think the Olympic medals need to step up the quality a little bit.”
In a separate post, he added: “Medal looking like it went to war and back.
Olympics 2024 medals feature a hexagon-shaped piece of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower to honour the host city.
They also feature a six-edged metal medallion set like a gemstone under a design by Chaumet – a respected French jewellery house.
The design includes a circular arrangement of ridges intended to catch the light and evoke the sun’s rays.
The hexagon – a shape which echoes the contours of mainland France – is held in place by six spurs on each corner, intended to resemble the rivets used on the Eiffel Tower.
The Paris Mint made more than a staggering 5,000 medals in total for the sporting event with 2,600 designated for the Olympics and 2,400 for the Paralympics.
