Higher, faster, rustier: Rio’s mangled medals
NEW YORK — Kyle Snyder made history at the Rio Olympics by becoming the youngest American 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.
Snyder and Helen Maroulis, another US gold medalist wrestler, are among a group of more than 100 athletes from around the world with defective Olympic medals.
Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings says her bronze medal from last summer is flaking and rusting, and USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman said some swimmers have damaged medals as well.
USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said the organization reached out to its players and seven — three men and four women — reported they believe there is an issue with their medals.
The names of players aren’t known yet, and the plan will likely be to pass the medals on to the United States Olympic Committee for evaluation.
Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said last week that officials have noted problems with the covering on about seven percent of the medals.
“The most common issue is that they’ve been mishandled and the varnish has come off. They’ve rusted or gone black in the spot where they were damaged,” Andrada said.
Snyder, who wrestles for Ohio State, was 20 when he won his medal. He noticed an issue with his medal 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.
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 this week to return his gold medal — but he has no idea when he’ll receive a replacement.
“It wasn’t too big of a deal,” Snyder said. “But since they’re giving me a new one, it’s kind of cool.”
Rio de Janeiro spent about $12 billion on the Games, which were plagued by costcutting, poor attendance and reports of bribes and corruption linked to the building of some facilities.
Nine months later, many of the venues are empty and have no tenants or income, with the maintenance costs dumped on the federal government.
In addition to issues with the medals, which featured the Rio and Olympic logos, the local organizing committee still owes creditors about $30 million.
Greg Massialas, a coach for the US fencing team in Rio, said in a message to Associated Press that the silver medal his son Alex won is damage free.
He added that he hasn’t heard about any issues with other American 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 are intact.
Walsh Jennings, who won three golds in previous Olympics, said her medals tend to get damaged because she doesn’t hesitate to let people touch them or try them on. But she won’t consider locking them up because people are inspired by them.
“They have offered to replace them. I’m not sure if I want to swap it out,” Walsh Jennings told AP, adding that the reason was “100 percent sentimental”.