1.3% Gold Only

With the London 2012 Olympics well underway, news about the Olympics is everywhere. That’s to be expected as over 4 billion people from around the world will be tuning into the games at one point or another.

News about the games also includes this little “fun” fact; the gold medals won by the athletes are not actually gold! The gold medals won are actually 93% silver and only 1.3% gold. Copper takes up the rest.

So the gold medals are actually SILVER!

Sorry but I don’t really think this is “fun”. I think this is kind of embarrassing! I know gold prices are at record highs right now but 1.3% gold? All these athletes spend 4 years training for the Olympics and all they get is…well, a silver medal? I know the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a non-governmental non-profit organization, but come on! Surely they have enough in the bank to have more gold inside a gold medal!

And if you think that is poor, the gold medal is at least better than a bronze. When Brazilian judoka Felipe Kitadai damaged his bronze medal in the shower, the IOC replaced the medal for him. At the grand cost of US$4.71.

That was all the metal in the bronze medal was worth.