TOKYO, July 26: The Tokyo 2020 organisers made an interesting observation about their medals — which have been made by extracting precious metals from discarded mobile phones and laptops — and within minutes the tweet had gone viral.
The organisers posted a picture of an athlete smiling and biting her gold medal, and wrote, “We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible! Our medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public.
“So, you don’t have to bite them… but we know you still will (Face with tongue) #UnitedByEmotion,” read the tweet.
The tweet created quite a buzz on social media with fans praising the organisers for coming up with the catchy lines.
“It is very sweet to bite, because it is very hard to get. Also a long memories in the life,” tweeted a fan, while another wrote, “The Best Tweet I have ever read since opening day. I am sure you know today is the third day, and everyone is stressed out. Your Tweet made me laugh. Thank you.”
Another fan wrote, “After struggling harder and harder, finally they bite this biscuit which they need during struggle.”
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games conducted the “Tokyo 2020 Medal Project” to collect small electronic devices such as used mobile phones from all over Japan to produce the Olympic and Paralympic medals.
In the two years between April 2017 and March 2019, 100 per cent of the metals required to manufacture the approximately 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals were extracted from small electronic devices contributed by people from all over Japan.
Every medal being awarded to athletes during the Games is made from recycled metals.
IANS