An Olympic bronze medal has a podium value of approximately US$13 (S$17), according to Forbes.

Bronze medalists have also complained about the quality of the medals, including discolouration and imperfections, just a week after being awarded.

How much do the medals cost?

A bronze medal—which weighs 455 grams and consists of 415.15 grams of copper, 21.85 grams of zinc, and 18 grams of iron—has a podium value of approximately US$13 (S$17), according to the spot price of gold, silver, and iron on the morning of July 24.

A silver medal—which weighs 525 grams with 507 grams made of silver and 18 grams of iron—is approximately US$486 (S$643).

A 2024 Olympic gold medal is valued at approximately US$950 (S$1257) and weighs 529 grams with 505 grams made of silver, 18 grams of iron, and six grams of pure gold.

It is the highest value of any gold medal in the history of modern games, beating the US$708 (S$937) record held previously by the 2012 London Olympics.

In 1912, the last time pure gold medals were presented, a gold medal was valued at approximately US$41,161 (S$54,468).

Complaints of medal quality

In an Instagram story reported by TMZ on Aug. 8, U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston said the medals "look great when they're brand new", but after a little sweat and letting his friends wear his bronze medal over the weekend, his medal quality deteriorated considerably.

Houston said his medal is "looking rough", with the front "starting to chip off a little".

He added that the Olympic medals' quality should be better.

Other Olympians, such as Great Britain diver Yasmin Harper said her bronze medal had started losing colour a week after being rewarded.

Harper said the discolouration did not bother her as the medal held significance on its own.

More bronze medals appeared to have lost colour or been chipped, The Economic Times reported.

A video of Chinese swimmer Sun Jiajun also went viral on Aug. 5 after he exclaimed to his teammate that his gold medal had flaws during the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay medal ceremony.

Sun later posted on Douyin saying that he was okay with the scratch as it was a unique mark given to him by the Goddess of Victory.

Singaporean kitefoiler Max Maeder clinches bronze at the Olympics

Singaporean kitefoiler Max Maeder, 17, came third at the men's kite event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, clinching a bronze medal and S$250,000 for his achievement.

However, he will take home S$200,000 because he has to give S$50,000, or 20 per cent of takings, to the Singapore Sailing Federation.

An Olympic gold would have earned a reward of S$1 million.

An Olympic silver comes with a S$500,000 reward.

Top image via @nyjah/Instagram.