I see them bite the gold a lot? Have you done this and is the origin traced back to when pirates traded in pieces if eights and they literally bit off a piece of valuable coin? Are the winners maybe checking for malleable elements.
Which leads me to wonder, is the gold medal even made out of gold??
Has anyone ever bit the bronze medal and did it leave a bitter taste in the mouth? Zinga!
They're checking to see if it's one of those chocolate candies with a gold wrapper.
Vanilla Rain wrote:
They're checking to see if it's one of those chocolate candies with a gold wrapper.
I believe that ended up being the case for Frank Shorter in 76
Omg I know! But they are wrapped in aluminim and if you've ever had that element in your mouth it can hurt really bad if you have fillings from eating too much candy.
Maybe winners have zero cavities and that's why they won and they do indeed think it's chocolate! And so they're excited
The piece of eight was sterling so it would only make sense if the 2nd place medalist bit his coin.
Not a question,no, not just pirates but you got the idea, no they are trying to be cute and replicate actions they have seen previous medal holders trying to be photo-uniquely memorable do. Thus moving that behavior into the hackneyed, overused, overdone, overworked, worn out, timeworn, platitudinous, vapid, stale and tired arena.
Maderamonkey wrote:
Not a question,no, not just pirates but you got the idea, no they are trying to be cute and replicate actions they have seen previous medal holders trying to be photo-uniquely memorable do. Thus moving that behavior into the hackneyed, overused, overdone, overworked, worn out, timeworn, platitudinous, vapid, stale and tired arena.
Well it is true that they are copying what they have seen.
However, it does have origins. Centuries ago, coins were made out of precious metals and the value was equal to the value of the precious metals contained within them. You could tell a coin was actually gold by biting it, since gold is very soft. It was a way to detect counterfeit. So it became a tradition to do the same with gold medals, to show that they are not counterfeit.
Steel doesn't make sense. The last Olympics to use real gold medals was in 1912.
Maderamonkey wrote:
Not a question,no, not just pirates but you got the idea, no they are trying to be cute and replicate actions they have seen previous medal holders trying to be photo-uniquely memorable do. Thus moving that behavior into the hackneyed, overused, overdone, overworked, worn out, timeworn, platitudinous, vapid, stale and tired arena.
Lots of words there, lousy writing. You must be young.
I find it funny that none of you actually know where this is from! Let me educate you.
Long, long ago, people trading for gold would bite it as a cursory test of its softness. (Many counterfeit substances would be harder.)
That is what these athletes are mimicking, or mimicking a mimic of (even if they don't know it themselves).
I am not suggesting it is a smart or interesting thing to do, but that's the source.
Most top athletes are fans of Underdog:
sdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:
However, it does have origins. Centuries ago, coins were made out of precious metals and the value was equal to the value of the precious metals contained within them. You could tell a coin was actually gold by biting it, since gold is very soft. It was a way to detect counterfeit. So it became a tradition to do the same with gold medals, to show that they are not counterfeit.
So in order to "show" that the gold medal isn't counterfeit they permanently damage their medal? Goes to show the critical thinking involved to get to the top of the stand.
Besides there is more gold on a counterfeit Rolex than is in an Olympic gold medal (only 1 percent gold)
They get free dental during the olympics. With some athletes receiving those benefits for the first time ever, they want to show off their teeth during the medal ceremonies
Primarily because they can't get chocolate chip bagels at Panera.
malmo wrote:
So in order to "show" that the gold medal isn't counterfeit they permanently damage their medal? Goes to show the critical thinking involved to get to the top of the stand.
Besides there is more gold on a counterfeit Rolex than is in an Olympic gold medal (only 1 percent gold)
Your Asperger's is showing again.
1. They don't actually bite hard enough to "damage" the medal. This is called "miming" and the medal is mostly "not gold" and therefore wouldn't be damaged even if they did bite down hard (which, again, nobody would actually do for a photo).
2. Nobody is actually suggesting it is real gold and using the bite test. You get that, right? It could be 1% gold or 0.01% gold, the point is it is a "Gold Medal."
is this for real? wrote:
malmo wrote:So in order to "show" that the gold medal isn't counterfeit they permanently damage their medal? Goes to show the critical thinking involved to get to the top of the stand.
Besides there is more gold on a counterfeit Rolex than is in an Olympic gold medal (only 1 percent gold)
Your Asperger's is showing again.
1. They don't actually bite hard enough to "damage" the medal. This is called "miming" and the medal is mostly "not gold" and therefore wouldn't be damaged even if they did bite down hard (which, again, nobody would actually do for a photo).
2. Nobody is actually suggesting it is real gold and using the bite test. You get that, right? It could be 1% gold or 0.01% gold, the point is it is a "Gold Medal."
You mad bro?
malmo wrote:
sdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:However, it does have origins. Centuries ago, coins were made out of precious metals and the value was equal to the value of the precious metals contained within them. You could tell a coin was actually gold by biting it, since gold is very soft. It was a way to detect counterfeit. So it became a tradition to do the same with gold medals, to show that they are not counterfeit.
So in order to "show" that the gold medal isn't counterfeit they permanently damage their medal? Goes to show the critical thinking involved to get to the top of the stand.
Besides there is more gold on a counterfeit Rolex than is in an Olympic gold medal (only 1 percent gold)
I'm not sure if you should be trying to get into the mind of a gold medal winner. I know I'm not.
I have found in my research that an abnormally high percentage of people that bite their marathon finisher medals are cheaters.
I suspect that photographers tell them to do it.
Whenever I'm around a professional photographer they are encouraging people to do things for a photo that would look stupid to any normal person.
And here's the proof:
But why do athletes feign chomping on their prized medallions, anyway?
Most likely to satisfy the pose-hungry media, says 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.
"It's become an obsession with the photographers," says Wallechinsky, co-author of "The Complete Book of the Olympics." "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."
So why do the winners immediately chomp on their hard-earned prizes?
The simple answer: Because the photographers ask them to, says David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians and author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics, via email.
kids getting dumber wrote:
Maderamonkey wrote:Not a question,no, not just pirates but you got the idea, no they are trying to be cute and replicate actions they have seen previous medal holders trying to be photo-uniquely memorable do. Thus moving that behavior into the hackneyed, overused, overdone, overworked, worn out, timeworn, platitudinous, vapid, stale and tired arena.
Lots of words there, lousy writing. You must be young.
thank you