Written by: Amni Azizan
Edited by: Nur Qistina
It is safe to say that everyone is no stranger to witnessing their favourite athletes biting their medals once they step on the podium with their biggest smiles gracing their faces. Especially in 2024, during the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where a cute moment happened on the podium. Zhou Yaqin, an 18-year-old gymnast from the People’s Republic of China, saw her Italian counterparts, Manila Esposito and Alice D’Amato (who won bronze and gold, respectively), bite their medals during the medal ceremony, prompting her to follow suit.
The endearing moment immediately went viral on social media.
Zhou Yaqin learns the medal-biting tradition during the medal ceremony | Source: Olympics website, photographed by Markus Gilliar (GES Sportfoto)
The big question is, how did the medal-biting tradition start in the first place?
Historically speaking, it all started with traders.
Back in the day, when gold was used as currency, it was a common practice among traders to bite down their gold to test out its authenticity, considering they did not have access to technology like we do nowadays. Gold is a soft metal, so dents will be visible when coins are bitten, which proves its authenticity, and no foul play will be among the traders.
However, the International Olympic Committee stopped awarding pure gold medals in 1912, so people did not question the authenticity of the gold medal anymore.
Now, the medal-biting tradition has become an iconic pose because of the photographers, as they urged the Olympians to bite their medals during the photography session. It is believed that Olympians performing the pose will often make their way to the headlines of newspaper outlets.
“It’s become an obsession with the photographers,” David Wallenchinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told CNN in 2012. “I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.”
Moreover, a psychologist and professor from Temple University believes that the act of biting their medals will make the Olympians feel as if they are part of the winning culture. Since then, the tradition has become a part of every athlete’s ceremony once they successfully secure a medal in their respective events.
The medal-biting act makes the medal they won personally theirs and adds an emotional connection with the athletes.
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