Nyjah Huston. Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

Team USA star questions quality of Paris Olympics medals

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Aug 9, 2024 5:53 AM ET

Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston has put a focus on the quality of the medals handed out to athletes in the ongoing Games.

Huston, who won bronze in the men's street skateboarding event, posted a video on social media on Thursday showing how much his medal had deteriorated within a week.

"So, these Olympic medals look great when they're brand new," Huston said. "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 ... I don't know. Olympic medals, maybe got to step up the quality a little bit."

Huston also shared a close-up shot of his medal, noting that the front of the hardware had "chipped off" and the front looked like "it went to war and back."

degraded quality of Paris Olympics bronze medal after a week.

Nyjah Huston, member of the USA skateboard team, raised concerns over the quality of the Olympic medals:
“these Olympic medals look good when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for… pic.twitter.com/7tDD9ZNhEL
— SAINT (@saint) August 9, 2024

The medals include a piece of recycled scrap metal from the Eiffel Tower, according to Thierry Reboul, creative director of the Paris Games. The scrap metal was obtained during past refurbishments and repairs of the world-famous Tower and stored in a warehouse for years at a secret location.

The idea behind the initiative was that every athlete who medaled in Paris would take back a piece of the Eiffel Tower with them.

Huston is the first athlete to question the quality of the medals handed out in these Games. The 29-year-old won his first Olympic medal in Paris but entered the event as a legend on the world skateboarding circuit. He won 12 gold medals at the X Games and six at the World Championships before Paris.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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