Sounds right to me.
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.
I'm pretty sure they make the athletes pay for the medals too. What a ripoff.
To be fair, a lot of athletes are also looking for advertising deals from being in the Olympics.
*After reading the article*
Patina is one thing but the front chipping is nuts.
I keep seeing all the athletes biting them.
I have had $10 jewelery from K-Mart that never chipped no matter what abuse I put it through.
Ea-Nasir strikes again.
I burst out laughing because I did not expect such a deep historical cut
You went to Ur in 1750 BC that is some fantastic linkage
I had to look this up.
The absolute shit quality is how you know it's an authentic Olympic Medal (tm)
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.
Could it be that the protection can't withstand exposure to alcohol? Just a thought. :P
That would be a tremendous oversight.
Did all the competitors understand that they were striving for chocolate medals? Seems a bit like a weird choice to me.
Makes sense why they are all shown trying to bite it, they are craving some calories after the matches.
Same thought. Looks like chocolate.
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.
Dang... Probably has that same sorta crumbly over porous texture of costume jewelry that was just plated.
France bragged this was the cheapest Olympics I guess that was a promise fully kept in all areas.
Cheapcore
It's called patina, and it's super supposed to be there!
/s
Coin collectors would scream at you to not clean or polish it!
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'd check their hand lotions for sulfur based compounds. The quick way to patina copper is with boiled egg yolks because they contain sulfur.
But also why didn't the IOC just throw on some clear coat?
Just open it and eat the chocolate already.
are there pics of medals from other olympics to compare it to?
Crafted with copper from Minecraft
Shouldn't have dipped it in the river...
Pfft, should have won gold.
The plating is worst, should've mined it
That ain't bronze.
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.
Prooooooobably won't be buying anything from them if their medals fall apart this quickly, haha.
I wouldn't put it past a medalist to wear that thing constantly and get it covered with sweat and oil, that'd def cause this to happen so quickly
Bronze would not get that bad that quickly.
Touching bronze actually removes the patina.
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.
Honestly the first thing I thought too. Wear it for a day and then put it up, man
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
Yeah but those so valuable POSTERS they get
They deserve it for only "winning" bronze.
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.
I googled it and it looks like the time required for this to happen naturally means your downvotes are justified.
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.
So...your point is that it's a widely known process, and that the manufacturer didn't know/choose to coat it because they're not being cheap?
that looks more like a plating that came off than patina
But does that explain the front chipping, as stated in the article? Especially after, what, 5-7 days, at most?
