Connect with us

Sports

HILARIOUS! Tokyo Olympics 2020 Urges Athletes to Stop Biting Medals

We have all seen pictures of our favorite athletes chomping down on their Olympic medals. These pictures of Usain Bolt, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps are some of the most iconic Olympics photos. 

Olympians biting on their medals and posing has become a part of the Olympic tradition. The International Olympic Committee has tried and failed several times to make the athletes stop biting their medals. This Olympic tradition, however, is here to stay. 

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 20: Gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica stands on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men’s 4 x 100 meter Relay on Day 15 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Why do Athletes bite their medals?

 

No one knows how or when this tradition of the athletes biting their medals and posing for the cameras started. All we know is that it’s here to stay. An explanation for the practice could be to check the authenticity of the gold, if we lived in the 1900s.

Biting gold is a way to check the authenticity of the metal as it is easily malleable. During the early 1900s before the World War, they gave athletes pure gold medals. They put this practice to a stop as soon as the war hit, and these resources became scarce. 

In the modern Olympic setting, they probably do this to create that iconic photo. We are so accustomed to seeing the greatest Olympians strike that pose. So all the athletes who win a medal try to recreate their own Usain Bolt, or Michael Phelps moment. 

Even if the athletes don’t plan to do it, the photographers ask them to do it. “It’s become an obsession with the photographers,” David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN.

German Luger David Möller had a not so iconic moment while recreating the pose. The silver medallist struck the pose and later realized that he slightly chipped his tooth.

We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible!

Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public.

So, you don’t have to bite them… but we know you still will #UnitedByEmotion

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 25, 2021

So what are the Olympics medals made of?

 

In the Tokyo Olympics 2020, they create the medals from recycled mobile phones and devices donated by the Japanese public. We know it as the Tokyo 2020 medal Project; it is an initiative to make the Olympics more sustainable. 

You got to take the wrapper off first to get to the chocolate on the inside!

A huge congratulations to every medallist, athlete, official, volunteer, and the fans who made today special.

We can’t wait to do it all over again on Day 4⃣ of #Tokyo2020 #UnitedByEmotion pic.twitter.com/MI40LOS12P

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 26, 2021

“We hope that our project of recycling small consumer electronics and our efforts to contribute to an environmentally friendly and sustainable society will form part of the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games,” the organizing committee said.

Also Read:  WATCH: Dutch Cyclist Endures Nasty Collision With On-Field Official During Tokyo Olympics Trials

The post HILARIOUS! Tokyo Olympics 2020 Urges Athletes to Stop Biting Medals appeared first on EssentiallySports.