American skateboarder Nyjah Huston won his first Olympic medal last week in Paris.
It is made of bronze.
Or at least it was.
Now it's bronze and Black. And also somewhat chipped.
The Laguna Beach-based athlete posted a video on his Instagram Stories on Thursday showing that the medal he won in the street skate competition was in much worse condition after just 10 days in his possession.
“These Olympic medals look great when they’re new, but after letting them sit on my skin with a little sweat on them for a while and then letting my friends wear them over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as one might think,” said Huston, who showed off the back of her medal looking worn and more black than bronze in several areas.
“Look at that thing, it looks rough. Even the front is starting to peel off a little bit. So, yeah, I don’t know, Olympic medals, maybe you need to improve the quality a little bit.”
Japanese skater Yuto Horigome won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event, while American Jagger Eaton took the silver medal.
Huston also posted a photo of his medal being held by someone who appears to be taking a hike. “The medal looks like it went to war and came back,” he wrote in the caption.
Huston also posted a photo of the medal being worn by someone who appears to be DJing. “At least the medal saw some epic sets in the closet,” she wrote.
She added in another photo: “I guess medals are meant to be in cases.”
Huston likely knows a thing or two about medals, having won more than two dozen at the World Skateboarding Championships and X Games between 2010 and now.
Olympic bronze medals are said to be composed of 95% copper and 5% zinc. All medals from the Paris Games also include an 18-gram wrought iron hexagonal piece of the Eiffel Tower.
Paris Games organizers said in a statement that they are investigating the matter to determine whether Huston should receive a replacement medal.
“Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution in charge of medal production and quality control, and with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete concerned, to assess the medal in order to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage,” the organisers said in a press release.
“Medals are the most coveted items at the Games and the most precious to the athletes. Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically to the originals.”
