The saga regarding the quality of Olympic medals awarded at the 2024 Paris Games isn’t over.
French Olympic swimmers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Clement Secchi have recently gone viral after posting social media photos of seemingly deteriorating bronze medals from this summer’s games that concluded in August.
In a post shared Saturday on X, Ndoye-Brouard likened the bronze medal he received after placing third in the men’s 4x100m medley relay to a piece crafted a century ago, writing: “Paris 1924.”
The 24-year-old athlete shared the photo of his medal in response to a re-post that featured Secchi’s hardware, which was compared to “crocodile skin,” according to the Daily Mail.
Secchi, 24, was part of the same men’s 4x100m medley relay team that won bronze.
The complaints from Ndoye-Brouard and Secchi follow similar gripes made by U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston, who received a bronze medal in the men’s skateboard street final in late July.
“Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,” the 30-year-old said in an Instagram Story at the time.
“But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think. It’s looking rough.”
Huston added, “I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit.”
British diver Yasmin Harper, who won bronze in the women’s 3m synchronized springboard, spoke of “a little bit [of tarnishing],” when pressed on the medal criticism.
“The medals. Er, there has been some small bits of tarnishing, I will admit, yes,” the 24-year-old Harper said, per The Guardian. “Yes, I have looked at mine. A little bit [of tarnishing]. I don’t know, I think it’s like water or anything that gets on the metal, it’s making it go a little bit discolored.”
The medals were designed by jeweler Chaumet, with a piece of the Eiffel Tower included in every Olympic and Paralympic prize.
Organizers of the games recognized Huston’s comments on the condition of his medal in a statement to the Daily Mail.
“Paris 2024 is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded,” a spokesperson told the outlet in August.
“Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution tasked with the production and quality control of the medals, and together with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete concerned, in order to appraise the medal to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage.”
