RECYCLED TOKYO MEDALS PROVING FAR FROM WINNER
CHINESE athletes are complaining on social media about the quality of the medals awarded in Tokyo, which were made from recycled electronic devices.
Zhu Xueying, 23, the women’s trampoline champion at the Tokyo Games, took to Chinese social media to show material apparently “flaking” off her prize. She said she had noticed what appeared to be a smudge on the medal but found she could not rub it off. “Then I picked at it, and the mark got bigger,” she said. Wang Shun, the swimmer who won the 200m individual medley, also reported that the gold on his medal appeared to be peeling off.
Zhu’s post prompted 10,000 replies, including many that complained about shoddy workmanship and demands for replacements.
“The fact that the medals for the Tokyo Games were made from recycled materials is too experimental for me. Those medallists deserve something more valuable,” one posted.
THE TIMES