Olympics 2024: why are some bronze medals being sent back to the Paris Mint?

Published by Graziella de Sortiraparis · Photos by Graziella de Sortiraparis · Published on January 15, 2025 at 02:25 p.m.
A few days after their third-place finish, disgruntled athletes had already pointed out that their bronze medals were "defective". Now, several months after the Paris Olympics, some 100 athletes have returned their medals. But where does the problem come from?

While the gold and silver medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have nothing to complain about in terms of their awards, the bronze medalists have seen their metal peel off and age very badly, just a few months after the competition, or even a few days for some, like American skateboarder Nyjah Huston. According to the media outlet La Lettre, nearly"100 defective medals" have been returned to the Monnaie de Paris, which manufactured them, by"disgruntled athletes" who want them replaced. But why are so many of them affected?

At issue is the varnish used on the medals, which gives the impression, as French swimmer Yohann Ndoye Brouard half-jokes, that they date back to 1924. According to the online media, this condition is due to"the replacement of a toxic component of the varnish, chromium trioxide", which was not reliable enough, after"insufficient anticipation" of its ban.

While the International Olympic Committee obviously states that"defective medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically" in the near future, the establishment is said to be in turmoil following this controversy. In the meantime, technical teams are hard at work to resolve the problem, alongside a Lyon-based company specializing in industrial processes and surface treatments.

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