Olympic skateboarder Nyjah Huston appears to have gone from bronze medalist to near bronze medalist at the Paris Games.
The Americans won the bronze medal on July 29, but 10 days later Posted an Instagram story The medal was badly deteriorated, with a dull, rusty appearance.
“This Olympic medal looks great when it’s new, but after I left it on my skin for a while, sweating, and then I had some friends wear it over the weekend, it just didn’t look as high quality as I thought it would,” he said. “I mean, look at this medal. It looks awful. Even the front. It’s starting to peel off a little bit. So maybe Olympic medals need to step up the quality a little bit.”
Houston Add to additional posts “This medal makes me feel like I’ve been to war and come back.”
The Paris 2024 medals will feature a strip of the Eiffel Tower to commemorate the host city, although the exact composition of the medals will vary from Olympics to Olympics. In fact, most of it is silver. They are plated with gold. Bronze medallions are usually a mixture of copper, zinc and tin. Bronze combines with oxygen in the air If left unprotected, a dull patina will form, which could explain the damage to the Houston medal. How quickly bronze deteriorates depends on the percentage of metals in the alloy, but cheaper metals often hasten the deterioration process.
“Like any normal alloy, exposure to moisture leads to corrosion. But alloying it with cheaper metals accelerates corrosion,” says sculptor Neeraj Gupta. He told the Indian Express.
Paris 2024 spokesperson He told Time magazine The athlete will be given a replacement medal to replace the damaged one.
“Paris 2024 is aware of reports on social media from athletes that their medals had been damaged a few days after being presented,” a spokesperson said. “Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the authority responsible for the production and quality control of the medals, and the athletes’ National Olympic Committees to authenticate the medals to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage.”
One of the most decorated skateboarders of all time, Huston doesn’t often win bronze medals and usually wins gold. The 29-year-old is a six-time world champion in street skateboarding and has won 12 gold medals at the Summer X Games.
