Team USA skateboarder Nyjah Huston posted an Instagram video showing the rapid decay of his bronze medal, throwing Olympic organizers into disarray, vowing to investigate the situation, and promising replacements to athletes.
Huston is a highly decorated street skateboarder, but those awards were mainly from the Summer X Games and the World Championships.
In the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he finished seventh in the Men’s Street event, which was a disappointing result considering he was the world’s number-one skater at the time.
Huston made a comeback in the Paris Olympics in 2024, securing a bronze medal in the men’s street skateboarding final.
And he was loving it.
“It’s sick to look at it. I’ve got a ton of X-Games gold medals before, but none of them look like this — or feel like this,” he said.
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He’s Right – None Of Them Look Like This
That comment by Nyjah Huston, regarding the look and feel of his Olympic medal, ended up being foreshadowing. The American medalist spent days wearing his medal and showing it off to friends. And it didn’t exactly survive the elements.
“Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,” Huston said in an Instagram story. “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.”
He shows his social media followers a medal that has some wear and tear, but doesn’t look terrible on the front. The back, however, looks like it came out of the basement of an old prospector from the 1800s.
“I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit,” Huston says.
Imagine working your entire life to attain an Olympic medal and it looks like a partially unwrapped chocolate medallion.
#skateboarding
— Surto Olímpico (@SurtoOlimpico) August 8, 2024
Bronze no street, o estadunidense Nyjah Huston reclamou que a sua medalha olímpica já está se desgastando #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/nVty0ZhDfB
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Olympic Folks Investigating The Medal Problem
Nyjah Huston’s video exposing the condition of his Olympic medal has sent officials scurrying.
Paris 2024 said they were aware of the controversy. Now, they’re working to “appraise the medal to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage.”
They promised to replace Huston’s medal or any other Olympic medals that might be similarly falling apart.
“The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most precious for the athletes,” a statement reads.
“Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals.”
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