ROCHESTER, N.Y. — While watching the Milan and Cortina Winter Olympics, have you noticed Olympians biting their medals at the podium?
News10NBC’s Emily Putnam looked into the origins of this iconic pose. It’s common for photographers to ask the athletes to bite their medals for the camera. But the tradition of biting medals actually dates back to when gold medals were made of solid gold.
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For centuries, people bit gold coins to test their authenticity. If the coin (or medal) were real, it would be soft enough to show teeth marks. Olympic gold medals have not been made of solid gold since the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm, Sweden.
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Today, the medals are gold-plated, consisting of about 93% silver with 6 grams of gold plating on top. The value of gold and silver has increased since the last Olympics. Currently, an Olympic gold medal is worth more than $2,000 for the materials alone, but the experience of winning one is priceless.
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