Helen Maroulis with the Olympic gold medal in Rio (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The gold medals presented to U.S. freestyle wrestlers Helen Maroulis and Kyle Snyder at the 2016 Rio Olympics are among those that are defective and damaged.
Maroulis and Snyder are among more than 80 American medal-winners -- and at least 100 Olympic medalists worldwide -- who are in possession of medals that are flaking, developing black spots, and showing other signs of damage.
The U.S. Olympic Committee learned about the problems in December and reached out to all the American sports federations in January to begin the process of returning damaged medals to have them replaced.
Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada told the Associated Press that officials have noted problems with the coating on 6 to 7 percent of the medals.
"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.
Snyder noticed there were issues with his gold medal the day after he won it in men's freestyle competition at 96 kilograms/213 pounds.
The Ohio State heavyweight and newly-minted gold medalist attended a party at the Team USA house in Rio de Janeiro, where he said multiple people handled the medal as they celebrated. Snyder said he later discovered a scratch on the back of it, though he added there has been no further damage.
Snyder said he has until the end of the week to return his gold medal and has no idea when he'll receive his replacement.
"It wasn't too big of a deal," Snyder told the AP. "But since they're giving me a new one, it's kind of cool."
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