Olympic winners bite down on their medals for this bizarrely intriguing reason
Every athlete dreams of participating in the Olympics and winning a medal for the country. For ages, sportspeople have built their dream and passion by chasing after the Olympic medal. When they pave their way forward and win one, they are seen posing with the medal in their mouths. The popular pose makes it seem like the sportsperson is biting into their medal. However, have you ever wondered why they may be bizarrely biting into their medals instead of just wearing them around their necks? There are many interesting theories for the same, per WCNC.
Each Olympic medal features striking designs and intricately etched details to make them memorable for the athlete and the country. For this year’s Olympics, the medals feature a vibrant outline of France's Eiffel Tower. So, why do prominent athletes chomp on a prized possession they worked so hard to receive? One of the theories behind it is related to a common historical practice of biting into gold coins to check their authenticity. It was done by traders to check whether the gold was real. A way of knowing would be by the dent caused on the coin. A real gold coin would be dented under pressure and likely, leave a mark.
It’s possible that athletes began the practice inspired by this tradition and the same just followed and was passed down from generation to generation. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stopped awarding pure gold medals in 1912, per the official Olympics website. Even though the organization discontinued the use of real gold in medals decades ago, the practice of biting into the medal didn’t change one bit. More than a quality check, the act of biting into the medal has become a popular celebratory act that every athlete follows.
In an interview with CNN, David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, said that the practice might still continue for the sake of media and photography. Over every picture of the athlete and their well-earned medal, the most prominent one that garners all the buzz is the one where they’re biting into their medal. The iconic pose is the buzz of every Olympic win and photographers are ensuring that the tradition carries on for the sake of the hype. “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.” Wallechinsky said.
Photographers even urge athletes to pose in this manner with their medals so much that it has become a default practice for every winner. German luger David Moeller, silver medalist at the 2010 Winter Olympics, is famously known for having chipped his tooth while biting down his medal. He was posing for the media, shortly after which he realized a piece of his tooth was missing! As of this Olympics, the pose is very much in demand and is already being flaunted by several athletes.