India’s Paris Olympics winners, including star shooters, complain about discoloured medals, want them replaced

“The colour of the bronze medal came off within seven days of winning the medal. When I reached India, friends, coaches and fellow shooters also pointed that out. An Olympic medal is a cherished possession for a shooter and the removal of coating was visible. All who saw the medal noticed that,” Kusale, 50m 3-Position bronze medallist, said.

Sarabjot, who won the mixed team medal with Manu Bhaker, also had a similar complaint.

“I too had noticed the discolouring of the medal a few days after the ceremony and my team contacted the concerned authorities for the issue to be highlighted. Olympic medals inspire youth as well as current shooters to achieve Olympic glory and its deterioration should not happen,” the pistol shooter said.

Double medallist Manu Bhaker’s two bronze medals — in the 10m air pistol individual and mixed events — have also lost their colour, PTI reported

It is in stark contrast to Olympic medals given decades ago that have largely maintained their pristine condition.

“It has been more than 40 years since Hardik Singh’s granduncle Gurmail Singh won the Moscow Olympic hockey gold and that medal has seen years without any discoloration. The Paris Olympics bronze medal won by Hardik had discoloured and such things should not happen,” said the hockey bronze medallist’s father Varinder Pal Singh.

The IOC said that Paris organisers are in contact with the national Olympic committees of the athletes concerned and that the replacement process will start in a few weeks.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said that if any medallist approaches it in this regard, it will take up the case with the world body.

“An Olympic medal is a lifetime achievement and a cherished memory, and if any athlete feels that their medal has deteriorated because of poor quality and needs a replacement, we will request the IOC for replacement,” IOA president PT Usha said.

It’s a problem that a lot of achievers from other countries are also facing. Despite the absence of any official figure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the French Olympic Committee or Monnaie de Paris (the mint that produced the medals), it has been speculated that the number of such damaged medals is over 100.

Problem beyond borders

Even before the Games had ended, American skateboarder Nyjah Huston had posted a video of his bronze medal that he said had deteriorated. Recently, French swimmers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Clément Secchi posted images of their medals on social media, saying they looked like “crocodile skin,” or ones dating back to 1924 rather than 2024.

These complaints have reached the IOC and the French mint and they have decided to replace a number of such medals.

“The Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, and has mobilised its internal teams,” the French mint was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “Since then, the company has modified and optimised its relative varnishing process. The Monnaie de Paris will replace all damaged medals at the athletes’ request during the first quarter of 2025.”

The medals were designed by Parisian jewelry house Chaumet and each of them contained a hexagonal, polished chunk of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower.

Kusale is hopeful of getting a replacement and believes an Olympic medal, which can provide encouragement to future generations, should stay in their original condition for as long as possible.

“I believe in the Olympic legacy and the medals of sporting legends, whom we would see on TV and get inspired by watching them win Olympic medals, should regain their original form and the legacy should not be spoiled. I will be open to accepting the new medals as per the IOC and it should be done for all,” he said.