Over 200 damaged Paris Olympics and Paralympics medals to be replaced

PARIS – The mint in France responsible for producing medals for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics has received 220 requests to replace those won at the Games, it told AFP on Feb 28.

Some athletes have complained that their medals have been discoloured or chipped, sometimes within weeks of the Games ending.

The mint, the Monnaie de Paris, said the replacement medals would be identical to the originals but a protective varnish would be added to increase their durability.

“The Monnaie de Paris has replaced some of them and is continuing its replacement operation at the request of the athletes,” it said in a statement.

It added that it had “done everything possible, from August 2024, to ensure the replacement of the medals concerned”.

The International Olympic Committee had said in January it would systematically replace “defective” medals.

The French mint prefers to call them “damaged”.

Some Olympians from the Paris Games have taken to social media to share photos of the state of their medals.

One of the first was American skateboarder Nyjah Huston, who won bronze in the street skateboarding competition on July 29. Ten days later, he posted a picture of his medal, complaining about its quality.

“These Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality,” he said.

“It’s looking rough. Even the front. It’s starting to chip off a little.”

French swimmer Yohann Ndoye-Brouard also published a photo on social media to show how his bronze medal from the Olympic 4x100m medley relay had badly discoloured on both sides.

The 220 medals to be replaced represent 4 per cent of the 5,084 awarded at