Have you noticed Olympians bite medals? Biting gold to check its authenticity can be dated back to the gold rush. People were more likely to fool each other using ‘Pyrite’, and they realized the only way to counter it with an immediate test was biting it.

The Olympic gold medals are not chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil, they are metal. In an interview with CNN, David Wallechinsky the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians said, “It’s become an obsession with the photographers. I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.” He explained why Olympians bite medals after they win it.

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Reason Explored for Why Olympians Bite Medals

So there you have it folks, biting down on Olympic gold medals is a pose. It’s a pose that Olympians like to strike and photographers love to shoot. The practice was once for differentiating between gold and pyrite coins. With that in mind, it is quite possible that a cowboy or pirate once competed and won an Olympic event and bit down his medal out of sheer habit. May be the photographers saw this as something cute and decided to take a picture. So, Olympians bite medals for looking cute after they win.

Anyone biting an Olympic medal in order to see if it’s real gold or not is actually in for a big surprise. Olympic gold medals are actually just 1.34 percent gold. The rest is sterling silver.The worth of one gold medal is estimated at $564. Olympian would be better off cashing their $25000 prize money cheques.