In a shocking revelation by two French athletes on Tuesday (Dec 31), the Paris Olympic Organising Committee was slammed after the state of the medals was revealed. France’s Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard revealed the horror state of the Olympic medals they won during the Paris Games as they deteriorated due to corrosion. This comes just four months after the Olympic Games were concluded in the French capital, underlining the poor quality of the medals.

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Paris Olympic medals deteriorated

As revealed by The Telegraph, the French duo became the latest athletes to slam the organising committee. The duo had finished third in the 4x100 metre medley relay in swimming which saw them clinch the bronze medal. 24-year-old Clement Secchi termed the medal’s condition as “Crocodile skin” while taking to his social media handle.

Secchi posted a picture of his bronze medal along with the caption, “Crocodile skin”, prompting a response from Ndoye-Brouard suggesting his own medal now looked more like one from the “Paris 1924” Games.

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This is not the first time an athlete has slammed the Olympic Committee for poor medal quality. It first emerged while the Paris Games were still on as US skateboarder Nyjah Huston shared images showing his medal had already appeared to tarnish. United States team-mates Nick Itkin and Ilona Maher followed suit days later by revealing the state of the medals they respectively won in fencing and rugby sevens.

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Eiffel Tower pieces in Olympic medal

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In a design revealed for the Paris Olympic medals in Feb 2024, it consisted of iron pieces embedded in the centre of the medals each weighing 18 grams. The iron pieces were cut from girders and other bits that were swapped out of the Eiffel Tower during renovations and stored for safekeeping, according to Joachim Roncin, head of design at the Paris Games organizing committee.