The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the “defective medals” from the 2024 Olympic Games will be replaced.
“The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organizing Committee is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint), the institution responsible for the manufacture and quality control of the medals, to assess any complaints about the medals and to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage,” the IOC said.
“Defective medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically,” it explained.
“The replacement process should begin in the coming weeks,” the IOC added.
A spokesperson for the Monnaie de Paris denied that the medals were “defective,” explaining that damaged medals from August had already been replaced.
“We have replaced all the damaged medals since August and we will continue to do so in the same professional manner as before,” the spokesperson said.
According to a French online media outlet, “more than 100 defective medals have been returned by disgruntled athletes” who noticed that their hard-earned awards deteriorated shortly after receiving them.
One of the disgruntled athletes was American skateboarder Nyjah Huston, who earned a bronze medal in the street skateboarding competition on July 29.
After receiving his medal, Huston took a picture and shared his concerns about its quality.
“These Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you would think,” he said.
“It’s looking rough. Even the front. It’s starting to chip off a little,” he added.
According to La Lettre, the medals “had to bear the brunt of the new products used,” as new regulations banned a component of the varnish previously employed, which “had to be replaced at short notice.”
The medals were designed by Chaumet, a luxury jewelry and watch firm, and produced by the Monnaie de Paris, which added a small piece of the Eiffel Tower sourced from the operating company of the Parisian monument.