Olympic gold medals are made of silver

[Khun Don]

Olympic gold medals are made of silver
By Deutsche Presse Agenture

Beijing - The gold medals awarded at the Beijing Olympics are mostly made of silver, the Games' organising committee BOCOG admitted Monday.



Each medal contains only 6 per cent pure gold, BOCOG secretary-general Wang Wei said. The bulk is silver, he added.
Wang dismissed as "a joke" claims made by internet bloggers that the medals contained lead.
The raw materials for the medals came from Australia and were vetted by a state-approved testing authority to ensure they were indeed precious metals, Wang said.//dpa

[paul_au]

Well it seems a lot of this precious metal is being won back to Australia.

[Pailin]

And the fronts of the medals seem to have white plastic, or marble???? I see most of the athletes quick turn theirs around to the solid metal side for pictures.

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

And the fronts of the medals seem to have white plastic, or marble???? I see most of the athletes quick turn theirs around to the solid metal side for pictures.

Actually the front of the medals are the side that has the illustration of the winged goddess of victory, Nike, and the Panathinaikos Arena. This is prescribed by the International Olympic Committee. The Beijing medals have jade incorporated in to the reverse of them, a different colour for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

Also the original story about the winners medals being mostly silver is a bit of a non-story as they have always been in previous Olympics - the IOC has strict rules for the medals which include that the champion and runners-up medals should be made of pure silver with the champion medal plated with no less than 6 grams of gold.

David

[Sved]

I recall reading Muhammad Ali's biography, and he stated that the gold medallion he won (as Cassius Clay) eventually got worn down from excessive wearing.

He could see through the gold layer at several places indicating it was plated.

[senaratne]

I recall reading Muhammad Ali's biography, and he stated that the gold medallion he won (as Cassius Clay) eventually got worn down from excessive wearing.

He could see through the gold layer at several places indicating it was plated.

No wonder, Sved. There are scams everywhere.

Let there there be another event at the Olympics for the best scammer.

[Pailin]

Thanks for sleuthing, David! I'm glad to know it's not plastic... yes, I should have guessed jade. Much nicer and more valuable to their efforts.