This is capitalism. The goal of the Olympics is to make money on advertising, not to give nice expensive rewards to the athletes. The athletes are tools to make money for rich people. TV, advertising, sponsors.
The cheap metal serves its purpose. It looks nice initially for a few days while the winners take pictures. After that it doesn't matter.
The US Olympians used to have to pay tax on their earnings from winnings until 2016 when Obama changed that by preventing the IRS from collecting taxes on those awards.
You can bite into lead. You can't bite into gold, silver and bronze. That's why it used to be a test for fake coins. If the chips are bite marks, the metal's really low grade. Biting into Gold and Silver is even easier.
Do they not coat or treat the medals in some way to prevent this from happening, or is this just some weird fluke with this one medal? For all the egregious ways the IOC wastes money, I feel like the actual medals, themselves, would be one of the last places they'd cut corners.
Maybe bronze is a pretty complicated metal to work with. Humanity has only been using it for what, five thousand years, give or take several centuries? We probably just need to gain more experience with it before they'll come out looking as good as our stone medals.
What's with the /s? Of course it's supposed to be there. Polish it and coat it if you don't want it, but don't pretend it's a mistake to leave it uncoated.
I mean, what can you expect if you only win bronze. Not like that's a phenomenal achievement most people never even get close too. Seriously though, France should be embarrassed at this.
There are statues where the parts people touch a lot look almost golden.
Like the one of the busty lady in Ireland whose boobs look gold from people touching them. The name of the statue is escaping me, but maybe someone else will remember.
Like the one of the busty lady in Ireland whose boobs look gold from people touching them. The name of the statue is escaping me, but maybe someone else will remember.
I'd at least grease it. Sweat is an entirely different beast on a 4000 calorie diet and chewing salt tabs like candy. Bike lube on zippers, whole 9 yards
US skateboarder learns about oxidization for the first time.
Downvoters: Google brass patina and tell me what that looks like. Olympic "bronze" medals are made of brass. Brass oxidizes. This is oxidization. It's not an inferior product or a hallmark of the cheapness if Olympics, it's a thing that happens to some metals and metal alloys.
So what do you think this is, if not natural patina? Unnatural patina? Olympic person secretly rubbing black stuff on their medal and posting it on Instagram for views? Do you think the Olympic committee intentionally purchased medals plated in something other than brass that would patina faster? Or do you think it's not brass and some other metal that oxidizes at a faster rate? I think it would take more effort to create a medal that patinas at a faster rate than it would to just create a medal plated in plain old brass or bronze.
Brass left alone in a clean environment will oxidize very slowly, because it's just in contact with oxygen and electrolytes from the air. Metal oxidizes much faster in certain conditions, such as when it is regularly exposed to large amounts of oxygen and electrolytes, such as those found water and acid. Some examples of things that oxidize metals faster include being in regular contact with body oils, salty sweat, or chemicals like sunscreen or body lotion. Do you think any of these substances may have gotten on a medal being worn by an athlete in the summer for a week?
Go get a piece of brass siding from the hardware store. Don't put any sealant on it. Wear it around your neck for a week and see what happens to it.