Kyle Snyder made history at the Rio Olympics by becoming the youngest U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal.
The medal will soon be history as well, to be replaced by the IOC and Rio organizers because of damage.
Snyder and Helen Maroulis, another U.S. gold medalist wrestler, are among a group of more than 100 athletes from around the world with defective Olympic medals.
Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings says her bronze medal from last summer is flaking and rusting, and USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman said some swimmers have damaged medals as well.
USA Basketball spokesman Craig Miller said the organization reached out to its players and seven — three men and four women — reported they believe there is an issue with their medals. The names of players aren’t known yet, and the plan will likely be to pass the medals on to USOC for evaluation.
Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said Friday that officials have noted problems with the covering on 6 to 7 percent of the medals.
“The most common issue is that they were dropped or mishandled, and the varnish has come off and they’ve rusted or gone black in the spot where they were damaged,” Andrada said.
Snyder, who wrestles for Ohio State, was 20 when he won his medal. He noticed an issue with his medal the day after he won it.
He went to a party at the Team USA house in Rio, where he said multiple people handled the medal as they celebrated. Snyder said he later discovered a scratch on the back of it, though he added there has been no further damage.
Snyder said he has until the end of the week to return his gold medal and has no idea when he’ll receive his replacement.
“It wasn’t too big of a deal,” Snyder said. “But since they’re giving me a new one, it’s kind of cool.”
Rio de Janeiro spent about $12 billion to organize the games, which were plagued by cost-cutting, poor attendance and reports of bribes and corruption linked to the building of some Olympic-related facilities.
Nine months later, many of the venues are empty and have no tenants or income — with the maintenance costs dumped on the federal government. In addition to the issues with the medals, which featured the Rio and Olympic logos, the local organizing committee still owes creditors about $30 million
Greg Massialas, a national coach for the U.S. fencing team in Rio, said in a message to a news agency that the silver medal son Alex won is damage free. He added that he hasn’t heard about any issues with other U.S. fencers.
U.S. shooter Ginny Thrasher and boxer Claressa Shields, along with men’s tennis bronze medalist Kei Nishikori of Japan, also reported that their gold medals are intact.
Walsh Jennings, who won three golds in previous Olympics, says her medals tend to get beaten up because she doesn’t hesitate to let people touch them or try them on. But she won’t consider locking them up because people are inspired by them.
“They’ve offered to replace them. I’m not sure if I want to swap it out,” Walsh-Jennings told a news agency, adding the reason was “100 percent sentimental.”
LUKE MEREDITH
