An Olympic gold medalist will have her medal replaced less than a week after the end of the Tokyo Games. For a very unusual reason.

Tokyo 2020 organizers announced Thursday that Miu Goto, a relief pitcher on Japan's champion softball team, will receive a new gold medal after Takashi Kawamura, the mayor of her hometown in Nagoya, bit her medal at an event to celebrate her win, according to Reuters.

The bite did not appear to damage the medal, but still caused a minor scandal in Japan for Kawamura's flouting of COVID-19 protocols and perceived disrespect for Goto's prize. Biting Olympics is a common practice, dating back to its use as a quick test of a gold coin's authenticity, but it's a practice you typically see only among the athletes that won them.

The social media backlash against Kawamura was swift, with the term "germ medal" trending soon after the event.

Even Japanese car giant Toyota, which sponsors the Goto's Toyota Red Terriers club team, released a statement condemning Kawamura...

To read the complete article, see:
Japanese softball player to have gold medal replaced because her hometown mayor bit it(https://sports.yahoo.com/japan-gold-medalist-softball-miu-goto-nagoya-mayor-replacement-022855574.html)