PARIS, France — Skateboarder Nyjah Huston won his first Olympic medal less than two weeks ago, but the cherished trophy is also showing serious signs of wear.
The two-time Olympian posted on his Instagram story Thursday that his Paris bronze medal looks like "it went to war and back."
"Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they are brand new," Huston said in a video. "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 are apparently not as high quality as you would think."
"I mean look at that thing, it's looking rough. Even the front starting to chip off a little," Huston continued, rotating the medal to show off different angles.
"So, yeah I don't know. Olympic medals, you gotta maybe step up the quality a little bit," he said.
Huston later posted: "I guess the medals are meant to be in cases."
A Paris 2024 spokesperson said the organization "is aware of a social media report from an athlete whose medal is showing damage a few days after it was awarded."
"Paris 2024 is working closely with Monnaie de Paris, the institution tasked with the production and quality control of the medals, and together with the National Olympic Committee of the athlete concerned, in order to appraise the medal to understand the circumstances and cause of the damage," the Olympic organizers added.
"The medals are the most coveted objects of the Games and the most precious for the athletes. Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals."