rusted Olympic Medals being returned for redoing !!

He was in limelight  for winning a Gold medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics – were you able to recognize him ?

Mack  Horton represented Australia in the 400 m freestyle, in which he won gold, and the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, in which he finished 4th with his teammates.  He also appeared before a Court for running a red light, where he was told he needs to learn patience.  The 20-year-old was caught on camera running a red arrow at 2.50pm on Nicholson Street in Carlton, Melbourne,  in June and months  later, he beat China's Sun Yang to win gold in the 400m freestyle at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.  His sporting achievements weren’t mentioned during his hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, according to the Herald Sun.  Police said the light had been red for 0.8 seconds. Horton’s lawyer  claimed that it was mistaken judgement while driving; he  pleaded guilty to the charge and was released without conviction on a six-month good behaviour bond. The swimmer was also ordered to pay $150 to the Smith Family Charity.  Just imagine, what could have happened here or elsewhere !!

Olympic Gold medal is great ~but nothing of that before law !! – the  2016 Summer Olympics, officially  the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly,  Rio 2016, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 August to 21 August 2016. More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf, which were added to the Olympic program in 2009. For the fourth time in five Games, the United States led the medal table both in number of gold medals   and in overall medals  won.  Behind the United States, Great Britain were second on the medal table by golds (27), and third by overall medals (67) – their highest finish under either count since the home games of 1908, while China were third by golds (26), but second by overall medals (70).

Casa da Moeda do Brasil is the Brazilian mint, owned by the Brazilian government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances. It was established in 1694. Its current headquarters and industrial facilities occupy a modern plant with 110,000 square metres (1.2 million square feet) in Rio de Janeiro's western suburb of Santa Cruz. It produces legal tender coins and banknotes.  It also produced the Olympic medals.

In between, there are Gold, Silver and Bronze medals – Gold medal is not Gold  ??   - the  last Olympic gold medal that was actually made from gold was awarded in 1912. The specific composition and design of Olympic medals is determined by the host city's organizing committee. However, certain standards must be maintained:

•        Gold and silver medals are 92.5% silver.

•        Gold medals must be plated with at least 6 grams of gold.

•        All Olympic medals must be at least 3 mm thick and at least 60 mm in diameter.

Bronze medals are bronze, an alloy of copper and usually tin. The custom of awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals started at the 1904 Olympics. After the 1912 Olympics, the gold medals have been gilded silver rather than real gold.  However, Nobel medals are Gold. The 2016 Summer Olympics featured eco-friendly metals. The gold metal used in the gold medals was free of mercury contamination. Mercury and gold are notoriously difficult elements to separate from each other.

Now comes the news that at least 130 medals won at the 2016 Rio Olympics have been returned to the organisers as they've begun to rust or developed black spots on them, the games' spokesman has announced on Friday. The effected medals, mostly bronze and including some from the Paralympics, are being fixed by the Brazilian Mint who were entrusted to make them for last year's event, communications director Mario Andrada told Reuters.

'The most common issue is that they were dropped or mishandled and the varnish has come off and they've rusted or gone black in the spot where they were damaged,' Andrada said.  'The second thing is that a small few, about 10, had problems with the extreme cold.' Andrada said the first problems came to light in October but called them 'completely normal.' The Brazilian Mint would fix any defects and return them, he added.

One shudders to think what would have the reaction of ‘Centerists’ and the media (and social media) if only such a thing had happened in India – imagine the captions and media stories, calling it ‘mother of all scams’ till the next scam surfaces !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20^th May 2017.