The International Olympics Committee (IOC) said it was looking into reports of damaged medals and that any faulty ones would be replaced, after claims that around 100 athletes had returned their accolades
The company that designed Olympic medals at the 2024 Paris Games has reportedly hit back after 100 athletes returned their awards complaining of rust and poor quality.
LVMH has denied being responsible for the poor condition of the medals after Team USA athletes like Nyjah Huston, Nick Itkin and Ilona Maher showed off how much theirs had deteriorated since last summer.
A company called Chaumet – which is a subsidiary of LVMH – was in charge of designing the medals, but its parent company has reportedly claimed neither organisation was responsible for the production process, according to Dailymail.com.
The same report alleges the production of the medals falls under coin-maker La Monnaie de Paris and the IOC.
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The IOC said it was looking into reports of damaged medals and that any faulty ones would be replaced by the Monnaie de Paris.
‘The Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution tasked with the production and quality control of the medals, in order to appraise any issues with medals to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage,” said the released statement.
‘Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.
‘The process to provide any replacements should start in the coming weeks in a process managed by Paris 2024 and Monnaie de Paris, together with the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the athletes concerned. Paris 2024 is in contact with the relevant NOCs.’
Huston initially shared pictures of his rusted medal just 10 days after winning skateboarding bronze for Team USA.
“Alright, so 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.
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“I mean, look at that thing. It’s looking rough. Even the front. It’s starting to chip off a little. So yeah, I don’t know, Olympic medals, you maybe gotta step up the quality a little bit.”
A report from French outlet La Lettre has claimed that the number of athletes handing their medals back has gone passed the 100 mark, after Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard also complained about the condition of their prizes.
British diver Yasmin Harper, who won bronze in the 3m synchronised springboard diving, is another athlete to speak out about the state of her medal.
“There’s been some small bits of tarnishing,” she said. “I think it’s water or anything that gets under metal, it’s making it go a little bit discoloured, but I’m not sure.”
Meanwhile, Irish rowers Daire Lynch and Phillip Doyle had their bronze medals taken back by Games chiefs because they were “wrecked”.