Winter Olympics

Some of the Rio Olympic medals are falling apart

Published May. 22, 2017 12:56 p.m. ET

Pete Blackburn

Many Olympic venues tend to deteriorate quickly following their brief stint hosting the Games. Now, following last summer's Rio Olympics, it appears some of the medals aren't holding up either.

According to recent reports, some of the medals awarded in Rio are suffering from defects, usually with their coverings -- made from recyclable materials -- either flaking apart. It's a bizarre and frustrating development for the accomplished athletes who worked so hard for those medals, but there are plans to replace them as quickly as possible.

"We're seeing problems with the covering on between six or seven percent of the medals and it seems to be to do with the difference in temperatures," Rio Games communications officer Mario Andrada said.

"Together with the IOC we're setting up a system for replacing the defective medals," he said, adding that the problem was prevalent mainly with silver medals and that the makers, the Brazilian mint, were undertaking the task.

The Rio Games weren't as much of a disaster as many expected them to be, but it appears the headaches its caused are extending beyond the closing ceremonies.

Get more from Winter Olympics Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Winter Olympics

Summer Olympics