Athletes at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games have reported discoloration and scratches on their gold medals. After a Chinese athlete's medal was replaced, surface damage was also found on gold medals awarded to Korean athletes, keeping a dispute over medal quality alive.
Kang Jun-i, who won South Korea's first-ever gold medal in skateboarding, has requested a replacement after finding scratches on her medal, according to sports officials on the 28th.
Kang said she had applied for an exchange because of the scratches while attending a news conference for gold medalists hosted by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee at Korea House in Live Nagoya, Japan, on the 27th.
Kang is not alone. Surface damage and scratches were also found on the medals of Bae Jae-min, Yeon Je-gil and Lee Kwang-no, who won gold in the esports fighting game event. All three had already returned to South Korea after receiving their medals, so the Korea e-Sports Association has asked the organizing committee for replacements and is awaiting a response.
"It is unfortunate that problems have arisen with the hard-won gold medals our athletes earned," an official at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said. "But we cannot be certain the medals will actually be replaced. We hear that many other countries have also filed exchange requests."
A defective medal had earlier been confirmed among the Chinese delegation. One athlete who competed in the esports events found a flaw on a gold medal and requested a replacement, China's Xinhua News Agency reported on the 27th. The organizing committee produced a new gold medal and delivered it to the athlete that same night.
A photo of the medal before the swap, released by the organizing committee to reporters, showed discoloration along part of the rim. The athlete's nationality and specific event were not disclosed.
About 7,000 medals are being used at the Games, all produced by the Japan Mint, which is headquartered in Osaka, according to the organizing committee. Medals used at award ceremonies are inspected at the mint before packaging and then checked again by committee staff. If scratches or stains are found, the medals are to be repaired or otherwise addressed.
The committee said, however, that it had not determined whether the change in color on this gold medal occurred during manufacturing or after the medal was handed to the athlete. The Chinese athlete's case remains the only one in which a medal has been replaced because of a flaw, the committee said.
Japanese outlet Lawnspo took a more positive view of the committee's response. The outlet said that about a week into the Games only one of roughly 7,000 medals had drawn a complaint, calling it an opportunity to showcase the Japan Mint's manufacturing skill and the quality of the medals.
The Games have been promoted as low-cost and environmentally friendly, and the medals were made in line with that approach. The gold medals measure 80 millimeters in diameter and 5 millimeters thick, with a gold plating of at least 1 gram. Some of the gold used came from metal that local governments recovered from small household appliances.
The dispute is likely to continue now that similar problems have been confirmed on Korean athletes' gold medals. White marks clearly distinguishable from the gold surface were found on the back of medals received by Korean athletes, according to Inven. The Korea e-Sports Association said it had inquired about exchange procedures with the organizing committee through the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and that the matter was being reviewed.
This is not the first time medal quality has become an issue at a major international competition. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston said on social media that the plating on his medal had peeled off within 10 days of the closing ceremony. The French mint told Agence France-Presse in March last year that it had received 220 replacement requests, equal to about 4% of the 5,084 medals awarded at the Olympics and Paralympics.
At the Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics in February, the gold medal of U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu came off its ribbon.
