The Olympics reminds athletes: Medals are not edible

It has been an iconic pose that you’ve seen from high school varsities to collegiate league players, and even Olympic athletes — smiling with their medals in between their teeth.

The winning pose may seem harmless to most, but Tokyo 2020 pointed out on their Twitter page that the medals are not edible. The post states, ‘Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public. So, you don’t have to bite them… but we know you still will.’

We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible!

Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public.

So, you don't have to bite them… but we know you still will #UnitedByEmotion

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 25, 2021

There are a few assumptions on why athletes bite their prize after their feat. Some say it’s for purity check considering that traders in the past bit gold coins to inspect their authenticity. So is that the explanation behind all this? Not really, since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stopped granting pure gold medals in 1912.

In fact, the gold medal at this year’s Olympics is made out of 98.8 % silver and only 1.2% gold. The real reason behind all these medal chomping photos is quite unexpected, but not surprising – photographers asked athletes to do it.

‘It’s become an obsession with the photographers,’ said David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.

‘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,’ he added.

During the 2010 Winter Olympics, German luger and silver medalist David Moeller chipped his tooth because of the said pose.

‘The photographers wanted us to bite into our medals at the presentation ceremony and a corner of my front tooth broke off,’ Moeller shared. ‘It wasn’t too bad and it didn’t hurt but it is annoying when you can’t smile as you normally do.’

While there isn’t any recent news on Tokyo Olympics’ winners losing their teeth, these interesting facts may lead them to find another victorious pose to do in the meantime.

Banner: (L) Joey Mendoza, (R) Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

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Source: we the pvblic