The "Face" of Macron's Government Reflected in Low-Quality Medals - COMMENTARY

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics are more than five months in the past. However, the scandalous events related to the competition, which left a deep mark on the memories with unpleasant incidents, especially the disgraceful scenes at the opening ceremony, do not subside. For several months now, news about the quality, or rather, the poor quality of the medals has been decorating the world press. As a result of the "huge work," more than 100 medals have been returned due to loss of quality. It is reported that "bronze" medals in particular are more susceptible to damage and rust. However, before the start of Paris 2024, a presentation ceremony of the competition's medals was held with great fanfare. At the event held at the headquarters of the Local Organizing Committee, the head of the organization, Tony Estanquet, announced that the medals were achieved at the cost of great effort and difficulty. Quote: "A huge work has been done to ensure that gold, silver and bronze medals have the same mixture as the precious metal of the Eiffel Tower." In fact, the first discontent arose during the Olympics. A video shared by American skateboarder Nyjah Imani Huston about the poor quality of his bronze medal caused a lot of discussion at the time. Later, other athletes complained about the same problem. French swimmers Clement Secchi and Johann Ndoy Brouard also joined the ranks of the dissatisfied. They won bronze medals in the Olympic relay race. Johann Ndoy Brouard did not even refrain from ridiculing his country's poor organization. He mocked the organizers by writing "Paris 1924" instead of "Paris 2024." Clement Secchi compared the medals to "crocodile skin..." "Report"'s investigation revealed that two members of the Azerbaijani national team also faced similar problems. We are talking about Paris-2024 silver medalist, taekwondo fighter Gashim Magomedov (58 kg) and Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), who was third in Greco-Roman wrestling. G. Magomedov confirmed in his statement to "Report" that the quality of the medal was not at the desired level: "From the first days I treated it very carefully. The medal was kept in a special bag all this time. It stayed in the bag for about two months, I went up and looked at it, sometimes I admired it. A few days ago, when I had to go to Azerbaijan for training camp, I thought I'd take it with me just in case. Maybe it will be needed somewhere, maybe the Ministry of Youth and Sports or the Taekwondo Federation will tell me to take it with me to some event. I decided to take it and when I took it out of the bag I saw that it was a little damaged. I can't understand why? I don't touch it, on the contrary, I have always treated it with care. In short, yes, I also faced this poor quality." H. Jafarov noted that a certain part of the medal had broken off. He emphasized that the award given at the Olympics was of very poor quality. In response to "Report"'s inquiry, the National Olympic Committee stated that it would contact other medalists of the Olympics and take necessary steps after the investigation was completed. The words of the Vice President of the NOC, Chingiz Huseynzade, in his interview with "Report," are another strong example of France's poor organization: "We will investigate each of the 7 medals won at the Summer Olympic Games, and then send an appeal to the International Olympic Committee. This is the only step. This is the first time we have encountered such a situation. This can be considered a continuation of the shortcomings in the organization of the Olympics. This is a matter related to the activities of the Paris-2024 Organizing Committee. It is clear that the weakness of the Organizing Committee was manifested in many issues. Therefore, it is a general problem. There were various problems. In general, the number of problems at the Paris Olympics was higher compared to other countries." After mass protests, the International Olympic Committee also responded to the issue. The organization announced that all damaged medals would be systematically replaced by the manufacturer "Monnaie de Paris" and that the process would begin in the coming weeks. For reference, the medals designed by the famous French jewelry brand "Chaumet" are enriched with iron particles taken from the Eiffel Tower. The face of the Olympic and Paralympic medals is the same. A total of 5,084 medals were made, each with a diameter of 85 mm and a thickness of 9.2 mm. The gold medal weighs 529 grams, the silver medal weighs 525 grams, and the bronze medal weighs 455 grams. 18 grams from the Eiffel Tower construction was added to each. In general, the International Olympic Committee has specific standards for medals, and every organizing country hosting the Olympics is aware of this: - The gold medal is made of at least 925 sterling silver, with a 6-gram gold coating - The silver medal is made of 925 sterling silver - The bronze medal is mainly made of copper, tin and zinc But it seems that France has also resorted to fraud in this matter. The fact that more than 100 medals have lost their quality is enough to think so. Moreover, it should also be taken into account that there has been no such massive dissatisfaction with the quality of medals in the history of the Olympics. Yes, France, which showed its hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan even during the opening ceremony of the competition by disregarding Olympic values, has not yet abandoned its colonial policy, and shamelessly teaches the world democracy lessons, has once again found itself in a ridiculous situation. Of course, the issue with medals is a serious blow to Macron and his government, whose reputation is approaching zero. This can also be considered a logical continuation of the numerous shortcomings recorded in the organization of the competition, which lasted from July 26 to August 11. It should also be noted that the price of a gold medal is $950, a silver medal is $486, and a bronze medal is $13. Considering that more than 100 medals have been damaged so far, that this process is ongoing, and that they will be replaced, there is no doubt that the French budget will suffer additional damage. This is, in a way, the "face" of France and the Macron government reflected in low-quality medals! Finally, let us remind that Azerbaijan, represented by 48 athletes in 15 sports at Paris-2024, ranked 30th with 7 medals, which was a historic result. Judokas Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelim Kotsoev (100 kg) became Olympic champions, forcing the Paris public to listen to the National Anthem of Azerbaijan standing up. Taekwondo fighter Gashim Magomedov (58 kg) and boxer Alfonso Dominguez (92 kg) won silver medals only by losing in the final. Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), freestyle wrestlers Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg) and Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) also waved our tricolor flag in Paris by taking the third step of the podium.