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Athlete complaints about their Paris Olympic and Paralympic medals deteriorating quickly are being handled directly by the manufacturer, the French Mint.
In a statement to Agence France Presse, the Mint explained:
“The Monnaie de Paris has replaced some of them and is continuing its replacement operation at the request of the athletes,” and added that it had “done everything possible, from August 2024, to ensure the replacement of the medals concerned.”
The earliest complaint was from American skateboard medalist Nyjah Huston of the U.S., who posted an image of his men’s Street bronze with a cracking exterior about 10 days after receiving it and before the Paris Olympic Games ended!
A total of 220 medals out of the 5,084 produced – 4.3% – have been requested to be repaired, with a new coat of varnish to be applied.
The medal design was created by the French jewelry house Chaumet, a unit of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, a first-tier sponsor of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, and included a historic piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, saved during a prior restoration.
The Mint made the medals, and after the aggressive deterioration of the exteriors was report, it identified an issue with a new varnish that did not contain chromium trioxide, which was banned by the European Union as a carcinogenic in September 2024.
In the midst of changing over quickly during the medal manufacturing process, the new varnish did not work as perfectly as hoped, and a new solution was found to deal with the finish problems cited by the athletes.
No timetable was given on how long the repair process will take or when the submitted medals will be returned.
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