Why Olympians bite their medals and what they do with them

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The official Tokyo 2020 account even went as far on Sunday to attempt to remind people who the medals should not, in reality, edible.

“We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible,” it said.

“Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public. So, you don’t have to bite them … but we know you still will.”

But why do these victorious athletes resolve to rejoice their coronation by pretending to take a bite out of their gold medals?

David Wallechinsky, Executive Committee Member of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN in 2012 that it is most likely an try to fulfill the media.

“It’s become an obsession with the photographers,” says Wallechinsky, co-author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics.” “I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.”

The phenomenon shouldn’t be unique to the Olympics although.

Tennis famous person Rafael Nadal has turn out to be well-known for wanting like he desires to take a bit out of the trophies he wins, specifically the Coupe des Mousquetaires — the French Open males’s singles trophy — he is turn out to be so acquainted with.

READ: Daniil Medvedev asks who will take responsibility if he dies in Tokyo Olympics’ heat and humidity
Nadal bites the Coupe des Mousquetaires following victory at the French Open.

Keeping it protected

Victorious athletes throughout the Olympic spectrum have gone to totally different lengths to discover a place for their medals.

Team GB’s Tom Daley, who received the lads’s synchronized 10m diving competitors with his associate Matty Lee on Monday, knitted a pouch to maintain his gold medal protected whereas he was in Tokyo.
Daley, who took up crocheting over lockdown through the coronavirus pandemic, posted on Instagram that he had made the holder to “prevent it getting scratched.”

For Slovenian bicycle owner Primoz Roglic, who received gold within the males’s particular person time trial, he admitted the medal itself shocked him.

“Actually, it’s quite a heavy thing, but it’s beautiful. I’m super proud and happy,” he informed the media.

Gold medalist Lasha Bekauri of Georgia nibbling his prize during the medal ceremony for the judo men's -90kg contest.
In 2008, Team USA footballer Christie Rampone told the Tampa Bay Times that her array of medals was hidden amongst the pots and pans in her home as she believed they can be the final locations somebody would possibly look.

During his early days on the Olympics, Michael Phelps got here up with some modern strategies to move his medals round.

In a “60 Minutes” interview with Anderson Cooper in 2012, Phelps stated he stored his eight gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Games in a touring make-up case wrapped in a gray T-shirt.

Given he’s probably the most embellished Olympian of all time with a complete of 28 medals, Phelps may need to undertake a brand new methodology to deal with them.

However, not all athletes have held onto their Olympic keepsakes.

Superstar boxer Wladimir Klitschko told CNN that he offered the gold medal he received on the 1996 Atlanta Games for $1 million, with the funds going to the Klitschko Brothers basis — a charity arrange by him and his brother Vitali to assist impoverished kids in their residence nation of Ukraine.

“We care about education and sport, that is the key in any children’s life,” Wladimir stated.

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos

“If they have knowledge, they can succeed with that in their adult life and sport gives them the rules — how to respect your opponent, how to respect the rules.

“It is all the time in life like that, you go down however it’s a must to rise up, and sport offers you this nice lesson.”

US swimmer Anthony Ervin auctioned off his 2000 Olympic gold medal on eBay to help survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

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