Why Do Most Olympic Winners Bite the Medal?
Olympic medal winners bite their medals as a nod to an old tradition of testing gold's authenticity, though modern medals are mostly silver with a thin gold coating.
Have you ever noticed how Olympic medal winners often bite their medals during the award ceremony? It’s a curious tradition that has puzzled many. But the reason behind it actually goes back to a practice from the old days.
Long ago, people used to bite coins to check if they were real gold or fake lead. Real gold is a very soft metal, so biting a gold coin wouldn’t leave any teeth marks. However, a fake lead coin, which is much softer, would show the marks from biting.
But here’s something surprising: Olympic medals aren’t made entirely of gold anymore! Today’s gold medals are mostly made of silver, with just a thin layer of gold on the outside. The last time Olympic medals were made entirely of gold was way back in the 1904 Olympic Games.
So, the next time you see an Olympic medal winner biting their medal, you’ll know they’re just carrying on an old tradition—not actually testing the medal’s authenticity!
