On Thursday, Aug. 8, social media showcased the poor quality of Nyjah Hutson’s recently won Olympic bronze medal.
The posts show a seriously deteriorated bronze medal already losing most of its color.
Degraded quality of Olympic bronze medal after a week pic.twitter.com/NoFxcDlZ1J
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 9, 2024
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/7oSOY8OxLL— Crime.org (@CrimedotOrg) August 9, 2024
Hutson even went to Instagram himself to voice his frustrations of the poor 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 letting my friends wear it over the weekend. They’re apparently not as high quality as you think,” he shared on Instagram,” he said via Instagram.
Though he wasn’t completely torn up about it, he made light of the situation by posting a story saying, “I guess the medals are meant to be in cases. Not meant for the send.“
Hutson even posted a direct message that read, “looks like ya won that thing in 1982 mate.“
However, it could just be a simple case of oxidation. According to gsa.gov, bronze will take on a flat, dark brown surface when exposed to oxygen for too long, which can easily be cleaned.
Either way, though, when you’ve worked so hard for a major achievement, it can be hard to see that the reward is poor quality.
Nyjah Hutson Secures Third-Ever American Medal in Men’s Streek Skateboarding
The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was the first year that skateboarding was introduced in the Olympics.
Obviously, with it being a new sport in the games, there isn’t a lot of history behind it yet, but America has already shown to be a strong competitor.
In 2020, American Jagger Eaton won the first-ever American medal for the event, securing bronze, following up in 2024 by winning silver.
However, Hutson was behind Easton, winning the bronze and his first career Olympic medal.
That puts America ahead in terms of all-time medals for men’s street skateboarding.
