At the Paris Games, Olympic skateboarder Nyjah Huston appeared to have gone from being a bronze medallist to what could be considered a kind of bronze medallist.
The American athlete was awarded bronze on July 29; however, ten days later, he uploaded a story on Instagram revealing that the medal appeared to have undergone severe deterioration, with the surface seeming dull and corroded.
After allowing it to stay on my skin with some perspiration for a short while and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, it appears that these Olympic medals are not as high quality as you might believe they are. “Alright, so these medals look great when they are brand new,” he added. Take a look at that item, if you will. It seems to be somewhat rough. As well as the front. To a certain extent, it is beginning to chip off. Consequently, I don’t know, Olympic medals, you might want to consider improving the quality of your work a little bit.
Huston continued by saying in a subsequent post that the medal “looks like it went to war and back.”
As a tribute to the city that will be hosting the Olympic Games in 2024, the medals will feature a little piece of the Eiffel Tower. However, the exact composition of medals will vary from Olympic Games to Olympic Games. In reality, gold medals are primarily made of silver and have a gold coating on them. The metals copper, zinc, and tin are typically combined to create bronze medals.In the absence of any protective measures, bronze will undergo a dull patina as a result of its reaction with oxygen in the air. This would explain the deterioration that occurred with Huston’s medal. The rate at which bronze deteriorates is determined by the quantity of metals present in the alloy; however, the process is typically accelerated by the use of less expensive metals.
As is the case with any other normal alloy, deterioration will occur if it is exposed to moisture. However, having an alloy that contains inexpensive metals will speed up the process, as a sculptor named Neeraj Gupta explained to the Indian Express.
A spokeswoman for the Paris 2024 athletic competition informed time that the athletes would receive replacement medals for any lost ones.
“Paris 2024 is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded,” stated the representative for the organisation. “Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution that is responsible for the production and quality control of the medals, as well as the National Olympic Committee of the athlete who is involved, in order to evaluate the medal in order to gain an understanding of the circumstances and the cause of the damage.”
In spite of the fact that Huston is one of the skateboarders with the most accolades in history, he does not have much experience with bronze medals because he typically gets gold. The 29-year-old skateboarder has won a total of 12 gold medals at the Summer X Games and has won the world championship in street skateboarding six times.