Tokyo Olympics: Two Chinese champions claim their gold medals are peeling

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic organisers said any peeling was probably a protective coating coming off and it wouldn’t affect the medal’s quality

A trampoline champion and a swimming champion made similar claims about peeling gold medals

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A photo posted by Zhu Xueying, an Olympic champion for China, appears to show a significant blemish on her gold medal. Photo: Weibo

Published: 4:00pm, 25 Aug 2021Updated: 4:44pm, 25 Aug 2021

A Chinese Olympic champion publicly criticised the quality of her gold medal on Monday and posted photos online that appear to show it peeling.

Zhu Xueying, who won the trampoline gymnastics event, posted three photos on Weibo of the medal that appear to show an obvious deformity on the top left side.

She wrote: “Can your medals … peel off too?” in the caption.

Zhu won the gold medal in the trampoline gymnastics event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: AFP

The Tokyo Olympic Committee told the nationalistic tabloid Global Times on Wednesday that the deformity was likely the result of a protective coating peeling and that, “Even if you remove the coating, it does not directly affect the medals’ quality”.

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games did not respond to an interview request from the South China Morning Post.

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