The medals for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics are reportedly facing issues with their condition, losing their luster surprisingly fast. On Tuesday, the French mint announced that it would be replacing several of these medals after various athletes expressed dissatisfaction, sharing images on social media that highlighted the deterioration.
While the Monnaie de Paris, the French mint responsible for the medals, has not disclosed the exact number of returned medals, a local French news outlet has indicated that the total might exceed 100. Additionally, efforts to retrieve precise figures from both the French Olympic committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were met with silence.
The French mint has produced a grand total of 5,084 medals for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic events. In response to the complaints, the Monnaie de Paris has emphasized its commitment to addressing these concerns, stating that it has been proactive since the initial reports emerged in August. The organization has improved its varnishing techniques and pledged to replace any damaged medals at the athletes’ request in the first quarter of 2025.
The design of the medals was crafted by the Parisian jeweler Chaumet, embodying a significant aspect of the Games’ legacy. Each gold, silver, and bronze medal features a hexagonal piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, a nod to the historic icon of the city.
Concerns regarding the quality of the medals were raised even before the Games concluded last summer, particularly after American skateboarder Nyjah Huston shared a video showing the rapid damage to his bronze medal. Since then, several other athletes have voiced similar grievances. French swimmers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Clément Secchi also took to social media, providing images of their medals, which they humorously likened to “crocodile skin” or to medals from 1924.
The IOC has confirmed that the Paris organizers are in touch with the national Olympic committees representing the affected athletes. It has also been announced that the replacement process is set to commence in the upcoming weeks, as the French mint collaborates with the organizers to ascertain the reasons behind the damage.
As per IOC statements, the Monnaie de Paris is committed to systematically replacing any damaged medals, ensuring they are engraved identically to the originals. Each of the iron pieces embedded within the Olympic medals weighs approximately 18 grams, or two-thirds of an ounce, derived from structural elements of the Eiffel Tower that were replaced during renovations and kept for preservation.
