Data map: American gymnast Byers bites the gold medal.
Photo by Du Yang
Chinanews client, Beijing, July 29 (Reporter Xing Rui) In every Olympic Games, when the champion athletes stand on the podium, they will always make the same action-biting the gold medal.
Recently, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee issued a document reminding the majority of athletes: The medals of the Tokyo Olympics cannot be eaten.
"Our medals are made of extracts from electronic equipment donated by the Japanese people, so there is no need to bite them...but we know that you will still bite."
A screenshot of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee’s social media.
It is strange to say that not only every Olympic Games, no matter what the competition is, there will be a classic pose of "biting the gold medal".
The editor is also wondering: How exactly did this move achieve global unification?
There is a saying among the Chinese people that if you want to know how pure gold is, you can just take a bite and try it.
If there are teeth marks on one bite, it means that this is real gold.
However, the gold medals in the Olympics today are not made of pure gold, but silver-plated.
Therefore, athletes bite the gold medal, certainly not to test the gold content of the medal.
David Volechinski, president of the International Association of Olympic Historians, once explained this phenomenon.
In his opinion, athletes biting gold medals are mostly the photographer's request: "This is an action that photographers are obsessed with. They think this action is more attractive. I don't think this is the athlete's own idea.
Data map: Yang Qian, the first gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, kisses the gold medal.
Photo by Du Yang
At the 2010 Winter Olympics, German sled rider David Moeller won a silver medal.
But when he received the award, the photographer still asked him to bite the medal.
This honest guy took a bite at the silver medal, so at dinner, he found his tooth was broken.
In fact, discussions on this issue have already existed on the Internet.
Many netizens have explained this phenomenon from different angles.
Some people think that this may be an animal attribute of humans, and feelings can be obtained through sensory experience.
Therefore, athletes have to "taste" the taste of victory by biting the gold medal.
There are also people who believe that the winners and losers of competitive sports, and the athletes on the championship podium are under tremendous pressure.
After the victory, biting the gold medal is a way for them to relax.
As for which athlete invented this action, there is currently no official statement.
However, some media reported that at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, an American swimmer put the gold medal in his mouth after winning the championship.
This scene happened to be captured by the cameraman, and then it became a popular scene.
Soon, the action of biting the gold medal was imitated by other athletes, and it gradually became a tradition in the Olympics.
Data map: In the London Olympic Games women's double 10m platform competition, Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao added another gold to China.
Photo by reporter Liao Pan
Although this action is harmless, it can easily make headlines in the newspaper.
However, athletes still have to pay attention when they bite. Too many bites can easily devalue the gold medal.
At the 2012 London Olympics, the Olympic Organizing Committee suggested that athletes should not bite the gold medal hard, because the gilded ingredients only accounted for 1.5% of the total weight. One bite may be hundreds of thousands of them gone...
The kind reminders from previous Olympic organizing committees did not stop the champion from biting the gold medal with enthusiasm.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the audience can still see this familiar action.
After winning the championship, Chinese women's epee Sun Yiwen also bit the gold medal on the podium.
However, when the global epidemic is not over, I think it is better not to take off the mask.
After all, safety comes first.
(Finish)