Why do the Olympic champions bite their gold medals?

Generally, after the medals are distributed, you will find at least one photo of a player bitting the gold medal, do you know why? According to www.thrillist.com, the practice of biting gold coinage dates back to the days when said gold coinage was still a common form of payment. Since gold is a relatively soft metal, sinking your teeth into a coin was a reliable way of determining whether your ducats were legit, or if some sly dog was trying to slip you a worthless hunk of lead that was simply gold-plated.

Now, this isn’t to say today’s Olympians are chomping on their medals in an effort to prove their worth but it’s actually due in large part to the wishes of photographers: having the medalist playfully bite their prize just makes for a more interesting photo, according to Olympic historian David Wallechinsky.

In reality, there hasn’t actually been a solid gold medal since the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. These days, Olympic gold medals are made of gold-plated silver that’s 92.5% pure, which by a stunning coincidence happens to be the same as the silver medal, meaning the difference between first and second is essentially cosmetic. Except for the whole “beating everyone else in a competition on the world stage” part, that is.