Paris Organizing Committee Responds to 'Green Medal' Criticism: "All Damaged Medals Will Be Replaced" [Paris Olympics]

"Gold Plating Wears Off in Ten Days" - Immediate Response to US Athlete's Complaint

The 2024 Paris Olympic Organizing Committee announced that it will replace all damaged medals after receiving criticism about the severe peeling of the medal plating and other quality issues.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Organizing Committee stated that "all damaged medals will be replaced" following criticisms that the plating on this Olympic medal is severely peeling off and the quality is poor.

[Photo by Naija Houston, Instagram capture]

On the 10th (local time), the Olympic Organizing Committee stated in a press release sent to AFP, "We learned through social networking services (SNS) about a testimony from an athlete claiming that the medal was damaged within just a few days," adding, "We are closely communicating with the Paris Mint, which manages the production and quality of the medals, as well as the athlete's National Olympic Committee, to identify the situation and cause of the medal damage."

They continued, "Medals are the most precious items for Olympic athletes," emphasizing, "Damaged medals will be newly produced and replaced identically by the Paris Mint." The Organizing Committee also noted, "However, no additional complaints about the medals have been raised so far."

American skateboarder Nyjah Houston claimed in a video posted on his Instagram on the 8th that the condition of his bronze medal deteriorated just ten days after winning it.

In the video, Houston revealed the front of the medal, showing peeling plating and a roughened surface, saying, "After touching my sweat-soaked skin and my friends wearing it around their necks over the weekend, it doesn't seem to be as good quality as expected."

He added, "The medal looks like it came back from a war," and criticized, "The medal quality needs to be improved."

The Paris Olympic medals were designed by the French luxury jewelry brand CHAUMET and produced by the Paris Mint. Except for the silver medal, plating decorations were used. The front of the medal features the winged goddess of victory, Nike, flying over the Panathenaic Stadium in Greece, in accordance with International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations.

The back of the medal contains a hexagonal-shaped iron piece of the Eiffel Tower, symbolizing France. To create this, the Organizing Committee directly received about 91 kg of iron pieces removed and stored during the Eiffel Tower's maintenance process from the Eiffel Tower Operating Association.

The medal weights, including 18 g of Eiffel Tower iron pieces, are 529 g for the gold medal (6 g of gold), 525 g for the silver medal, and 455 g for the bronze medal. The diameter is 85 mm, and the thickness is 9.2 mm. The Organizing Committee produced a total of 5,084 medals for the Olympics and Paralympics.

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic medal.
[Photo by IOC]

Medal quality controversies also occurred at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. It is known that more than 100 medals awarded to Rio Olympic medalists were returned to the Organizing Committee. Quality issues mainly occurred with the bronze medals.

At that time, a Rio Olympic Organizing Committee official stated, "Problems were identified in about 6-7% of all medals," explaining, "It seems that athletes mishandled the medals, causing surface scratches, corrosion, or black spots." The silver and bronze medals at the Rio Olympics were produced using an eco-friendly method that included 30% recycled metal materials.