The world has its eyes set on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games , a unique event in which the world’s best athletes compete for their honor and that of their countries. There are many curiosities related to the event, but surely one that you have asked yourself more frequently is the following: why do Olympians bite the gold medals?
Why do Olympic athletes bite the gold medals?
The fact that an athlete or Olympian poses biting with his gold medal is nothing more than a pure “pose” that the press (and photographers) love. However, there is a “deeper” reason for this action, apparently stemming from the famous gold rush period in the United States, when miners needed to check gold nuggets for pyrite (also called Gold Rush). fools) or if it really was gold.
By biting the medal, therefore, the athlete emulates the gesture of obtaining great wealth and checks the “authenticity” of the gold that has just been delivered. Obviously it is a symbolic wealth , since the value of the Olympic medals is not very high. In fact, the Tokyo gold medals that have been designed by the famous Japanese designer Junichi Kawanishi, are gold-plated silver medals, since they only have about 6 grams of gold for about 550 grams of pure silver.
How much is an Olympic medal really worth?
Being then a medal that is not authentic gold, it is worth wondering what is the true economic value of the Olympic medals. The silver and gold rates vary continuously, but as an indication (for a gold medal) we are around 700 euros.
As for the silver medal , made up of 550 grams of pure silver, we can say that it is around 400 euros; while bronze medals , made up mainly of copper and a little zinc, are worth only a few euros.
What are the medals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics made of?
Another interesting curiosity about the medals of the Olympic Games and specifically regarding the current Tokyo games, is without a doubt the fact that they have also been made with recycled metals from electronic waste ; Undoubtedly an excellent way to recycle this garbage, given that by 2030 it could reach about 75 million tons.
