Skateboarder Nyjah Huston won a bronze medal at the Olympics
Olympic officials have issued a response after a US athlete revealed the current condition of a bronze medal he’d won just days prior.
Skateboarder Nyjah Huston ended up bagged a bronze medal in his discipline for Team USA in Paris on 29 July after being beaten by Japan’s Yuto Horigome and fellow American Jagger Eaton in the men’s street final.
However, just days after the medal was awarded, the Olympian revealed that he didn’t exactly rate the quality of the accolade.
Nyjah Huston won a bronze at the Olympics. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC)
The athlete recently took to Instagram to share how his medal had seemingly deteriorated since he retuned home.
Speaking in post on his Instagram Story, Huston said: “Alright, so 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 letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think. It’s looking rough.”
The athlete called on the Olympics to ‘step up the quality’ of their medals, saying: “I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit.”
With the post, Huston posted an image on social media of the medal saying it ‘looked like it went to war and back’.
The Olympian also posted a screenshot of someone who had seen the snap of the medal, who told him: “Looks like ya won that thing in 1982 mate.”
Since the story has blown up, Olympic officials have issued a response.
Huston shared the condition of his medal on his social media (Instagram/Nyjah Huston)
A spokesperson has since told Mail Sport: “Paris 2024 is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded.
“Paris 2024 is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris, the institution tasked with the production and quality control of the medals, and together with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete concerned, in order to appraise the medal to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage.”
The IOC also told LADbible Group: “The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most precious for the athletes.
“Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.”
Huston is no stranger to medals, however, as he’s previously bagged 12 medals at the X Games.
He has also come out victorious six times in the World Championships, while also taking nine silver medals and four bronze medals between the two competitions.
