Over 100 medals from the Paris Olympics have been sent back because they have roasted.
The criticism has been directed at the designer – the luxury brand LVMH – which denies all involvement.
“They will be replaced with new ones,” said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a statement.
Already during the Olympic Games in August it was alerted that Olympic medals had lost color and started to rust. Now over 100 medalists have requested to have their prices replaced, reports New York Times.
The problem has mainly affected the bronze medals. One of the victims is Tara Babulfath who took bronze in judo and thus Sweden’s first medal, reports Aftonbladet.
“It is about to peel into gold color,” Tara Babulfath tells the newspaper.
A number of Olympic medalists have shown their roasted medals on social media and the criticism has been directed at the designers, which also own a number of subsidiaries, including Moët and Louis Vuitton.
Designer denies responsibility
The medals for both the Olympics and the Paralympics have been designed by the jewelry manufacturer Chaum, which is part of the French luxury group LVMH. Nevertheless, they do not want to take on responsibility for the rusty medals and deny all involvement. According to the New York Times, a spokesman says that none of the parties were involved in production, but only the design.
The coin manufacturer Monnaie de Paris, who has manufactured the medals, admits that there has been a technical error in the varnish. According to the French newspaper LA Lattre, this is due to the fact that some chemicals that are previously used to protect against rust are now prohibited in manufacturing.
Gets new medals
The worn medals will be replaced by new ones, which IOK confirms in a statement.
“Destroyed medals will be systematically replaced by Monnaie de Paris, they will be new and identical to the original medals”
This is not the first time this has occurred. After the Rio 2016 Olympics, approximately 130 medals were advertised. The Brazilian mint that made the medals believed that the cause was deficiencies in the manufacturing process and extreme heat.
January 17, 2025