Kyle Snyder made history at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year by becoming the youngest US wrestler to win a gold medal.
The medal will soon be history as well, to be replaced by the International Olympic Committee and Rio organizers because of damage.
More than 80 US athletes have sent medals they won at Rio to the US Olympic Committee (USOC) headquarters to be shipped to Games organizers, who will replace them due to flaking, black spots and other damage, the USOC said on Tuesday.
Photo: EPA
The Americans, including gold-medal wrestlers Snyder and Helen Maroulis, are among at least 100 Olympians from across the globe with defective medals.
Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings is also in the group.
She said her bronze medal is flaking and rusting.
Photo: AP
USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman said that some swimmers have damaged medals as well.
The USOC learned about the problems in December last year and reached out to all the US sports federations in January to begin the process.
Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said officials have noted problems with the covering on 6 to 7 percent of the medals.
“The most common issue is that they were dropped or mishandled, and the varnish has come off and they’ve rusted or gone black in the spot where they were damaged,” Andrada said.
It is not uncommon for medals to be passed around at post-Games parties and handled by hundreds, but this amount of damage is unusual.
Walsh Jennings, who won three golds in previous Olympics, says her medals tend to get beaten up, because she does not hesitate to let people touch them or try them on.
However, she would not consider locking them up, because people are inspired by them.
“They’ve offered to replace them. I’m not sure if I want to swap it out,” Walsh-Jennings told reporters, adding that the reason was “100 percent sentimental.”
USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said the organization reached out to its players and seven — three men and four women — reported that they believe there is an issue with their medals.
Snyder, who wrestles for Ohio State, was 20 when he won his medal. He noticed an issue with the award the day after he won it.
He went to a party at the Team USA house in Rio, where he said multiple people handled the medal as they celebrated.
Snyder said he later discovered a scratch on the back of it, though he added there has been no further damage.
Snyder said he has until the end of the week to return his gold medal and has no idea when he will receive his replacement.
“It wasn’t too big of a deal, but since they’re giving me a new one, it’s kind of cool,” Snyder said.
Rio de Janeiro spent about US$12 billion to organize the Games, which were plagued by cost-cutting, poor attendance and reports of bribes and corruption linked to the building of some Olympic-related facilities.
Nine months later, many of the venues are empty and have no tenants or income — with the maintenance costs dumped on the Brazilian government.
In addition to the issues with the medals, which featured the Rio and Olympic logos, the local organizing committee still owes creditors about US$30 million.
Greg Massialas, a national coach for the US fencing team in Rio, said in a message to reporters that the silver medal his son, Alex, won is damage free.
He said that he had not heard about any issues with other US fencers.
US shooter Ginny Thrasher and boxer Claressa Shields, along with men’s tennis bronze medalist Kei Nishikori of Japan, also reported that their gold medals were intact.
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