Defective medals - The Paris Olympics are back at the center of the scandal

The Wall Street Journal, an American daily business newspaper, reported the other day that the Paris Mint, which was responsible for manufacturing the medals, fired three high-ranking officials: the industrial director, the director of production and the head of the Department of quality, occupational safety, safety and environmental protection.

The exact reason for the dismissal is not reported, but most experts are inclined to believe that the personnel pogrom was the result of the scandal with the medals of the Paris Olympics. The bronze medalists had particularly big problems. According to experts, the reason was the use of low-quality varnish, which could not protect the metal from damage. For example, the medal of American skateboarder Nige Houston fell into disrepair just two weeks after the Olympics. The surface of the medal cracked and began to peel off. Houston complained on social media that she looked great when she received the medal, but after coming into contact with his skin, she began to darken. "The medal looks like it went to war and came back," Houston wrote on a social network.

Later it turned out that not only the American skateboarder had similar problems. And the complaints began to flow. Among those who complained were British diver Yasmin Harper, French swimmer Maxim Grousset, Irish rowers Philip Doyle and Dare Lynch, and rapier wrestler Nick Itkin from the United States. The latter, as it turned out, had already managed to demonstrate the troubles with his medal, which began to manifest two days after the award. At the closing ceremony of the Games, his "Nickname" already looked like it had been lying there since the previous Olympics. A month later, the "patient's" condition worsened completely. In early December, French swimmers Clement Secchi and Yoann Ndoye-Brouard showed their medals on social media. The rewards were in numerous cracks.

After the scandal broke out, the Paris Mint promised to replace a number of medals awarded to Olympians and Paralympians at the Summer Olympics. According to La Lettre, the mint declined to say exactly how many medals will be replaced. The company said it had "changed and optimized its relative varnishing process," and all damaged medals would be replaced in the first quarter of 2025.

The NOC of Azerbaijan also intends to apply to the IOC after checking the status of all medals won by Azerbaijani athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris. The press service of the National Olympic Committee reports that a thorough investigation is underway on this issue. All medals will be checked, and after the completion of the proceedings, the NOC will contact the International Olympic Committee.

But how beautifully it all started. The medals were designed by the Parisian jewelry house Chaumet, and according to the idea of the manufacturer, a small piece of the Eiffel Tower was embedded in each of them. A real fragment, by the way. A very original solution, purely in the tradition of refined French taste. But in the pursuit of refinement of details, French jewelers forgot about the most important thing - about quality.

On the last day of the Olympics, Danish badminton player Viktor Axelsen compared the two gold medals he won at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Games in Paris. In the comments to this post posted on social media, users came to the conclusion that Paris looks "cheap." Maybe the users are right. The Olympics in Paris as a whole looked very cheap, and therefore the problems with medals were, to some extent, expected. According to professionals, the organizing committee of the Olympiad decided to save money by providing a contract based on patronage, not on abilities. What happened was the result of a manufacturer's mistake, but the organizers are also responsible for the scandal.

However, Paris 2024 began to be overgrown with scandals even before the start. And during the launch, the situation became generally "uncontrollable." Everyone remembers the ambiguous skits and musical numbers at the opening of the Games, the scandal surrounding the LGBT parody of the Last Supper. The organizers also noted political provocations. And what a disgrace for the French side was the state of the water in the Seine River! Dirty water has caused health problems for athletes from Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Kazakhstan, Belgium and other countries.

The Olympics were organized very poorly, which is why experts called the Paris Games the worst in history. The desire to save money on comfort, health, and nutrition for athletes has been the subject of widespread discussion. It got to the point that the delegations of the countries had to deliver the air conditioners themselves. The attempt to present cardboard beds as an example of the struggle for a clean environment was also unsuccessful. The host country was unable to ensure the safety of the participants and guests of the Olympiad. It is a shame that many athletes and members of the delegations were robbed during the days of the Games.

It seems that France did not try to hold the Olympics at a good level at all. If she had tried, she would certainly have succeeded. Paris reacted as if the event had been imposed on it, and not Macron himself begged it from the IOC almost on his knees. Now here's the medal scandal that has stirred up the unpleasant aftertaste of the Paris Games. For a week now, the 2024 Olympics have been remembered with unkind words in the media of different countries.

It seems that Macron's team proceeds from the contradictory opinion that negative PR is also PR.