More than 100 Paris Olympics athletes 'return medals' after the Games

While many people would - and indeed do - go through a lot to get their hands on an Olympic medal, it seems as though a number of the athletes from Paris 2024 have handed theirs back.

During the games, there was a bit of a kerfuffle over the swift deterioration of some of the medals at Paris 2024, with various athletes posting pictures of the medals looking quite different just a few scant days after they'd been won.

Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston showed how his bronze medal already looked rather weathered, posting that it 'looks like it went to war and back' and that 'even the front, it's starting to chip off a little', while the games were still going on.

Danish badminton player Viktor Axelsen showed the gold medal he won at Paris 2024 and compared it to the condition of the gold he'd won at Tokyo 2020, with the older medal looking far shinier.

Now, French publication La Lettre reports that over 100 athletes have returned their medals, which were produced by the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint) and contained a piece of the Eiffel Tower.

La Lettre also reports that a trio of people have left the Monnaie de Paris in the wake of the deteriorating medals saga.

They report that one of the reasons for the medals looking as they do is because the toxic chemical chromium trioxide was banned and a new varnish product was used, which had some rather aesthetically unpleasant results.

On the bright side, at least they didn't give the Olympians medals coated in a toxic varnish, so every cloud and all that.

Olympic officials said they'd replace any 'damaged' medals, as time has not been kind to the medals of a number of other athletes who won major accolades in Paris.

A few months on from the games, other athletes shared what their medals looked like now and the accolades earned by French swimmers Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard don't look great.

Secchi shared a picture of his gold medal and said it looked like 'crocodile skin', while Ndoye-Brouard put up a picture of his bronze medal which appeared to have deteriorated quite a bit.

Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade said the conditions of the medals had made her 'sad', as she felt she couldn't wear them together around her neck since they were getting scratched.

😭😭 Paris 1924 pic.twitter.com/WzfoV3ECQt

— Yohann Ndoye Brouard (@yohann_2911) December 28, 2024

Despite being gold, silver and bronze medals, they are not entirely made of what you'd expect, as while the silver and bronze medals are largely made up of those metals the Olympic gold medal is mainly silver beneath the surface.

The promise from the IOC to replace any defective medals still stands, meaning that the athletes who don't like how their medals have deteriorated and decided to return them can expect to get newer, better versions of them back further down the line.

Monnaie de Paris said in a statement: "Monnaie de Paris produced 5,084 medals for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"In agreement with the Paris 2024 organizing committee we do not communicate on the number of damaged medals. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organizing Committee is working closely with Monnaie de Paris, the institution responsible for the manufacture and quality control of medals, to assess medal claims and understand the circumstances and cause of damage.

"Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, mobilizing its internal teams, Monnaie de Paris modified the varnish and optimized its manufacturing process to make it more resistant to certain uses of the medals by athletes.

"The replacement of damaged medals has been initiated in liaison with the IOC and the Paris 2024 organizing committee. All damaged medals will be replaced and identically engraved at the request of athletes during the 1st quarter of 2025.

"La Lettre's allegations of '3 executives evicted' are false. As an employer, Monnaie de Paris cannot express itself publicly on the individual situation of its employees, for obvious reasons of confidentiality."

LADbible have contacted the IOC for comment.