Nyjah Huston did America proud with a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the men’s street skateboarding final, but the hardware he took home for his spot on the podium isn’t holding up so well.
In a story on his Instagram account, Huston shared how withered his relatively fresh bronze medal looked, and posited that the Olympics should consider enhancing the quality of their medals.
degraded quality of Paris Olympics bronze medal after a week.
Nyjah Huston, member of the USA skateboard team, raised concerns over the quality of the Olympic medals:
“these Olympic medals look good when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for… pic.twitter.com/7oSOY8OxLL— Crime.org (@CrimedotOrg) August 9, 2024
LEGENDADO: 😳 O querido Nyjah Houston detonou a qualidade das medalhas dos #JogosOlímpicos de Paris.
🥉 Ele disse que com suor e um pouco de farra dos amigos, a medalha já começou a parecer que foi comprada na feirinha da Grande Circular. pic.twitter.com/w0JbAl7gWh
— Revista Verídica ✳️ (@revistaveridica) August 8, 2024
Olympic bronze medalist Nyjah Huston calls out the quality of the Paris Olympics medals after his bronze medal began DETERIORATING. 🥉
“They’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think…The medals looking like it went to war and back.” pic.twitter.com/zqogSYJExm
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 9, 2024
Huston noted how the front of the medal had begun to chip off, and that despite the bronze’s relatively light wear and tear, it already showed signs of discoloration.
As he said in the aftermath of taking home the bronze in Paris, the medal was unlike anything he’d seen as a highly decorated skateboarder with many accolades to his name, including 12 gold medals at the Summer X Games.
American street skateboarder Nyjah Huston couldn’t stop looking at his bronze medal on the podium. Same thing when he met reporters in the mixed zone:
“It’s sick to look at it. I’ve got a ton of X-Games gold medals before, but none of them look like this — or feel like this.” pic.twitter.com/XKFPgllAf0
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) July 29, 2024
Too bad the luster didn’t last — at least in Huston’s view. I don’t pretend to know about the process of oxidation or how it plays out on specific surfaces, but that seems to be the culprit here according to several Twitter folk.
I'm surprised that they don't coat the bronze with something so that it won't oxidize so quickly.
— Jackie Chiles-Vandelay, House of Mogh (@spacelysrocket) August 9, 2024
It’s Bronze?
Patina!
Clean it and put it in an air tight case, if u want it to stay clean.
Otherwise ,just enjoy it!— Ken (@sharp_59) August 9, 2024
Welcome to the world of science, chemistry, and oxidation.
— Robert M. (@rmeczew) August 9, 2024
Um….maybe because it is BRONZE?? 😂😂😂
Did you pay attention in science class???
Very prone to oxidation due to its copper content being exposed to oxygen.— David Marino (@deepblue727) August 9, 2024
A little polish and a rag will have that looking new in 5 minutes.
— Jason Gundersen (@jason_gundersen) August 9, 2024
So it sounds like Huston can just polish and seal that thing up to keep it looking shiny and new. However, the fact that, according to Huston, some of the bronze is already breaking off is a bigger red flag that I don’t know how to account for.
We’ll have to see if any other Olympic athletes speak out on the condition of their medals. Perhaps Noah Lyles will eventually weigh in on his 200m bronze once he recovers from COVID. Regardless, if I won a medal at the Summer Games, I’d just do my best with it and let the chips fall where they may, fragments of the medal breaking off pun intended. The bottom line is Huston got an Olympic bronze, and as long as the medal doesn’t disintegrate entirely, that should be enough to keep him happy. But I’m sure he can find an expert to help him preserve the medal if he really wanted to.
You can check out Huston’s final run in the skateboarding street final below. The 29-year-old wily vet has still got it in spades for somebody who’s had to take his fair share of physical punishment since turning pro at 10.
Nyjah Huston is ON. 😲
What a second run in the men’s street final! #ParisOlympics
📺 : E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/CSUWAHe6tN— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
