Deteriorating Olympic medal taken away from athlete over 'chronic issue'

Irish Olympian Daire Lynch has shockingly disclosed that his bronze medal was confiscated due to a "chronic issue" causing it to fall apart.

The rower, who secured third place alongside Philip Doyle, revealed that the Games officials have reclaimed the deteriorating medal. On Irish TV today, the duo shared their experiences, with Doyle commenting, "Mine is gone, wrecked. It's nearly gone (to) the next layer down.

Lynch expressed his desire to keep his medal despite the authorities' interest in examining the faulty awards for research purposes. Doyle noted: "I wanted to keep mine but they wanted to take it away for research. They want to see what is wrong with the medals. Some of the gold but not too many but the bronze seems to be a chronic issue."

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It turns out that the medals' core is made of silver, which might explain why silver medalists haven't reported similar issues. Each medal also boasts a segment of the Eiffel Tower on the reverse side, complete with an inscription detailing the event and the athlete's name.

During the Games, Team GB diver Yasmin Harper confirmed the premature deterioration of the medals, even before leaving Paris. She observed her bronze becoming "a little bit tarnished" and "discolored" echoing American skateboarder Nyjah Huston's earlier complaints about the subpar quality of his medal on social media.

Harper clinched the medal in the 3m synchronized springboard on the first day of the Games with her diving partner Scarlett Mew Jensen. Despite a fifth-place finish in the individual event towards the end of the competition, the 24-year-old diver noticed her hard-earned medal showing signs of wear.

"There's been some small bits of tarnishing I will admit, yes," Harper revealed. "I've looked at mine. It's like water or anything that gets on the metal (which) is making it go a little discolored. I'm not sure." When questioned if this was a concern for her, Harper responded: "No, because it's still a medal."

Ireland celebrated a historic haul at the Paris Games, taking home seven medals, including four golds. Meanwhile, Team GB secured an impressive 65 medals, just shy of UK Sport's ambitious target. However, the tally of 14 gold medals fell short of expectations.