Why Do Olympians Bite Their Medals? The Answer Is Much Less Bizarre Than You’d Think

Want to know a secret? Just between us… even the gold Olympic medals are almost 93% silver.

Dating back to a distant 1912, the medals are not pure gold. They contain only 1.2% gold in it.

Also, biting the medals can be harmful.

This example might sound funny, but its consequences were very serious. In 2010, Olympian David Moeller, having bitten his award medal, lost a piece of his tooth.

Learning a lesson from this incident. Most of the athletes now like to kiss their medals instead of biting into them. They believe kissing the medal is a better gesture to show respect and love to the Olympic Games and their sport.

Despite knowing the fact that the gold medal is not really made out of gold, and if you take a bite of it, you risk losing your tooth, it’s definitely still the biggest and the most precious award a real champion can get. So who cares if it’s not hundred percent gold. What matters is the hundred percent determination and will power the athletes forecast to win and earn the medal. It’s sure as hell worth more than its price.