I always wondered why there are so many pictures of Olympic medalists chomping on their gold, silver, and bronze medals. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but after noticing many athletes putting their newly-awarded medals in their mouths, I thought there might be a reason behind this bizarre tradition. Turns out, it’s got a little something to do with science.
How did the tradition even begin in the first place?
Players back in the early 20th century used to bite their Gold medals just to check and make it sure that the medal they’ve received is made out of pure gold. This can be termed as a traditional method to check the purity of Gold.
It’s part of a long tradition of testing whether a metal is pure:
Because gold is softer and more malleable than other metals, one way to determine whether or not something is real gold is by biting into it — if it’s authentic, your teeth will leave an indentation. So, the players back in the early 20th century never used to get convinced unless they see their teeth marks on the medals.
The Irony:
The Gold used before 1912 used to be 100% pure. But later, as the world moved forward, the percentage of purity went down. The Olympic gold medals now aren’t actually made of gold — or at least, not entirely anyway. They are actually more like upgraded sterling silver medals, with about 6 grams of 24-karat gold used as a coating to make it look gold.
In fact, according to NBC News, only about 7.5 percent of the medal itself is gold, making it a bit less impressive that the Olympic medals have been growing in size and weight over the years. In 2016 Rio Olympics, the gold medal has 1.34 percent of gold.
Given that the medals aren’t gold, though, the logic of leaving a bite-mark isn’t exactly sound, but that obviously hasn’t kept many athletes from trying it anyway — even if they haven’t won gold. However, most medalists probably care far more about the symbolism of the medal than what it’s made of.
But, why are these athletes still pulling off this pose on the podium?
“It’s become an obsession with the photographers. 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,” David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN.
‘Today I Found Out’ host Simon Whistler explains the whole thing for you in this video:
Michael Phelps did the same when he won his 4th Gold medal of Rio Olympics 2016
Now we just feel sorry for Michael Phelps’ teeth 😉
Also Read: Here Is The Fact Behind Large Red Circles On Athletes Bodies Playing At The Rio Olympics