9 Aug 2024

Olympic skateboarder Nyjah Huston says medal already deteriorating

1:38 pm on 9 August 2024
American skateboarder Nyjah Huston displays a Paris Olympics 2024 medal which appears to have deteriorated

Photo: Instagram/@nyjah

US Olympic skateboarding medallist Nyjah Huston says his Paris medal is "not as high quality as you might think".

The 29-year-old secured a bronze medal following a nailbiter final at La Concorde last Monday, which saw his US teammate Jagger Eaton claim silver and Japan's Yuto Horigome take home gold.

"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," Huston said in a video posted to his Instagram.

Holding it up to the camera to display the deterioration, Huston exclaimed "look at that thing - it's looking rough".

"Even the front is starting to chip off a little."

"I don't know… Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit."

In a later post to his Instagram Story, he conceded "I guess medals are meant to be in cases. Not meant for the full send".

He reshared a message from a follower who remarked "looks like you won that thing in 1982".

Each Olympic and Paralympic medal awarded at the Paris Games is set with a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower - preserved during renovations of the landmark.

Just over 5000 medals were made by the Paris Mint; 2600 for the Olympics and 2400 for the Paralympics.

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