MORE than 100 Olympic athletes have sent their Paris 2024 medals back due to damage.
According to French outlet La Lettre, the poor condition of the medals is down to rust.
And the management of the company who produced the medals – Monnaie de Paris – have been sacked as a result.
The International Olympic Committee was forced to speak out and reveal replacements will be issued.
A statement read: “The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee is working closely with the Monnaie de Paris (the French state mint), the institution responsible for the manufacture and quality control of the medals, to assess any complaints about the medals and to understand the circumstances and cause of any damage.
“Defective medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved identically.
“The replacement process should begin in the coming weeks.”
A spokesperson for the Monnaie de Paris refuted the term “defective” to AFP.
They said the medals athletes complained of being “damaged” have already been replaced.
Some Paris Olympians took to social media to share photos of their medals.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D102909%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]American skateboarder Nyjah Huston – who won bronze in the street skateboarding competition – complained of the quality.
He said: “These Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they’re apparently not as high quality as you would think.
“It’s looking rough. Even the front. It’s starting to chip off a little.”
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