As the 2024 Paris Olympic Games climaxed on Sunday, August 11, one of the memorable memes we saw was when China's Zhou Yaqin saw Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito biting their medals after making a podium finish in the women’s balance beam final.

The Chinese artistic gymnast joined in on the fun. When asked why she decided to join the Italians in the medal-biting challenge, the 18-year-old uninitiated noted that she didn't want to be the odd one out.

"It would be bad if I didn't. Since we have to take pictures together, it is probably best for our movements to be the same. They were both actually biting it, so I just put it by my mouth for a bit."

Olympic athletes biting their medals is a phenomenon that has occurred a lot in recent Olympic Games - from Beijing to Rio to Tokyo and Paris. I'm sure you may have probably seen photos of famous Olympic champions like Usain Bolt and Simone Biles posing with their gold medal in between their teeth. But have you ever wondered the story behind the practice?

According to history, the early traders were used to the practice of biting their gold as a way of testing its authenticity at a time when the precious metal was used as a trading currency. As a soft metal, gold is bent when little pressure is applied, leaving a mark from the bite.

In recent times, modern athletes do not necessarily bite their medals to test their authenticity, as you may probably know that those are fake gold, silver and bronze.

Zhou Yaqin on biting her medal:
because [Alice and Manila] both bit their medals, it would be bad if i didnt. since we have to take pictures together, it is probably best for our movements to be the same. they were both actually biting it, so i just put it by my mouth for a bit. pic.twitter.com/Jidg8URRBs

— ou yushan stan 🦒 (@ouyushanskorbut) August 9, 2024

According to the report by ftw.usatoday, 5,000 gold, silver, and bronze medals that were awarded to athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were manufactured from small electronic devices contributed by people from all over Japan. These medals were made from recycled metals.

Now, to answer the question of why athletes appear to be eating their medals even though it is not edible, the simple answer is just to "satisfy the pose-hungry media", as stated by David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.

"There are only so many things to do with a medal, and the excited champions are usually appeasing requests from the gallery of Olympic photographers when they bite down on their booty," he noted.

Wallechinsky, co-author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics,” also described the phenomenon as an iconic shot that will sell the next morning's print.

“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.”

After two weeks of exciting games in the French capital, the 2024 Olympics ended with two of the world's largest economies battling for the top spot on the medal table. The United States, with a total medal overhaul of 126 medals eventually edged China's 91, despite the two hegemons finishing the games levelled on 40 gold medals each. Japan, Australia and France completed the top five with 45, 53 and 64 medals respectively.

Kenya emerged as the best African national overall on the medals table in 16th place with a total of 11 medals – four gold, two silver and five bronze, with Algeria closest at 39th place overall with three medals - two gold and a bronze.

China’s Zhou Yaqin saw Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito biting their medals after the women’s balance beam final and joined in on the fun ❤️ pic.twitter.com/DrxX8h2O2K

— GamaBOKO (@Gama_boko) August 6, 2024