Why do athletes bite on their medals at the Olympic Games?
EVER noticed this strange ritual that all athletes carry out when they’re going to collect their Olympic medals? It’s always a momentous occasion watching an Olympian be rewarded for their four years of training, but viewers have been left baffled over one aspect of the awards ceremony. Hundreds of puzzled viewers have taken to Twitter […]
EVER noticed this strange ritual that all athletes carry out when they’re going to collect their Olympic medals?
It’s always a momentous occasion watching an Olympian be rewarded for their four years of training, but viewers have been left baffled over one aspect of the awards ceremony.
Hundreds of puzzled viewers have taken to Twitter to ask why athletes always bite into their gold medals.
But it turns out that there is actually some reasoning behind the bizarre ritual.
Why do Olympic athletes bite on their medals?
Anyone who wants to prove whether or not an item is authentic gold simply needs to sink their teeth into it.
As the metal is naturally soft and malleable, you should be able to leave a dent if you chomp onto it.
Despite this, medals from the past 50 years don’t actually contain a large quantity of gold.
This year, the first-place medal is believed to contain just over one per cent of gold, with the remainder being made up of silver and copper.
Although athletes no longer bite into medals to check for their authenticity, the medal-winning gesture has become an iconic part of Olympic culture.
In Rio 2016 the trend continued to be prevalent – and that’s expected to be the case in Tokyo as well.
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Another theory behind why athletes bite into their medals comes from Olympic historian David Wallechinsky.
He believes that media outlets encourage the iconic ritual so they can get their hands on a picture perfect moment.
In an interview with CNN, he revealed: “It’s become an obsession with the photographers.
“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.”