Some Paris Games athletes ask for medals to be replaced

Some of the medals from the Paris Olympics seem to be quickly losing their shine.

The French mint said on Tuesday that it is replacing a number of medals from the 2024 Paris Games and Paralympics after athletes complained that they have already deteriorated — with some posting pictures on social media.

The Monnaie de Paris declined to say how many medals have been returned, but French website La Lettre put the number at over 100.Contacted by the AP, the French Olympic Committee and the IOC also would not reveal figures.

In total, the French mint produced 5,084 medals for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, and has mobilized its internal teams," the French mint said. "Since then, the company has modified and optimized its relative varnishing process. The Monnaie de Paris will replace all damaged medals at the athletes' request during the first quarter of 2025."

Parisian jewelry house Chaumet designed the medals, which were part of the Games' lasting legacy. A hexagonal, polished chunk of iron taken from the iconic Eiffel Tower was embedded in each gold, silver and bronze medal.

But concerns about their quality emerged before the Games had even ended last summer when American skateboarder Nyjah Huston posted a video showing how quickly his bronze medal had deteriorated. Many other athletes have since also complained. French swimmers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Clement Secchi recently posted images of their medals on social media, describing them as looking like "crocodile skin," or dating back to 1924.

The IOC told the AP that Paris organizers are in contact with the national Olympic committees of the athletes concerned. It confirmed that the replacement process will start in the coming weeks, and that the French mint is working with Paris organizers to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage.

"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.

"The replacement process should begin in the coming weeks."

American skateboarder Huston said when complaining about the quality of his bronze medal: "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."

When contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for the Monnaie de Paris refuted the term "defective" and said that the medals signaled by athletes as being "damaged" since the month of August have 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," said the spokesperson, adding that replacements were "underway" and were being made "as requests come in".

Agencies