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Why do Olympians bite their gold medals?

2024-08-04 22:11:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Why do Olympians bite their gold medals?

Australia's Jessica Fox bites her gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, July 28, 2024. Source: Reuters

The iconic photos of Olympians biting into their Olympic medals have become a true tradition. When an Olympic winner stands on the podium and receives his medal, he almost automatically bites it for a photo. Photos of swimmer Michael Phelps, athlete Usain Bolt and gymnast Simone Biles pretending to bite their gold medals are some of the iconic photos from the Olympics.

Why has such a thing become a tradition? There is no single answer as to why Olympic athletes started this tradition, but here is what is known. How it all began is not known, although it is considered a long Olympic tradition.

During the 2012 London Summer Olympics, David Wallechinsky, president of the International Association of Olympic Historians, told CNN that it was likely an attempt to "please the media".

"It became the photographer's obsession," said Wallechinsky, co-author of "The Complete Book of the Olympics."

"I think they look at it as an iconic look, as something they can maybe sell. I don't think it's something athletes would do on their own."

So you can thank the Olympic photographers for the iconic medal photos that have been "bitten" over the years. Photographers believe that the pose of biting a medal is a pose that can make the front pages of newspapers and portals the next day and that is why they ask the athletes to do it.

Thomas Ceccon of Italy after winning the men's 100m backstroke final at the Summer Olympics, July 29, 2024, in Nanterre, France. Source, AP

The origin of the gold bite

During the California gold rush of the 1800s, the practice of biting gold to see if it was real or fake began. Real gold is a soft material, so the gold piece will show bite marks that can be easily repaired. When gold is fake, the material is harder and the bite is painful.

Since 1912, the Olympic Games have not awarded medals made of pure gold, so there is no need to check whether the gold is real or not. Gold medals now contain at least six grams of gold, mostly silver and some copper. Solid gold medals were awarded at the Olympics from 1904 to 1912, which was just a few decades after the Gold Rush. If athletes were biting their medals at these games, it was most likely because they wanted to check whether their medals were real gold or not.

Olympians don't have to worry about that answer right now, writes Sporting News. It can also be said that it is a simple case of following tradition. Young athletes will grow up watching their heroes fight and win, celebrating their achievements with a "bite" of their hard-earned gold (actually mostly silver). Inspired by watching their idols or ancestors, it's a special feeling to do the same when it's time to get a medal. It is a cycle of sports tradition that passes from one generation to another.

When it comes to the Olympics, there is no more legendary photo than the champion posing with that special medal between his teeth, writes Give Me Sport.

However, the phenomenon is not exclusive to the Olympics. Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has become famous for looking like he wants to take some of the trophies he wins, particularly the Coupe des Mousquetaires - the men's French Open trophy.

Spain's Rafael Nadal bites the trophy to celebrate victory in the men's singles final, Australian Open, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 31, 2022. Source, Reuters

Is it safe?

Biting medals is not a completely safe practice. 2010 Vancouver Olympics silver medalist David Moeller of Germany broke his front tooth during a party. "The photographers wanted a picture of me holding the medal with just my teeth," Moeller told German newspaper Bild. "Later at dinner I noticed that part of my tooth was missing"./ REL