Why do winners bite their medals

The official Tokyo account even went as far on Sunday to try to remind people that the medals are not, in fact, edible. Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser poses for a photograph and bites her silver medal after the women's individual time trial. So, you don't have to bite them Read More.

But why do these victorious athletes decide to celebrate their coronation by pretending to take a bite out of their gold medals? I don't think it's something the athletes would probably do on their own.

The phenomenon is not exclusive to the Olympics though. Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has become famous for looking like he wants to take a chunk out of the trophies he wins, in particular the Coupe des Mousquetaires -- the French Open men's singles trophy -- he's become so acquainted with. Nadal bites the Coupe des Mousquetaires following victory at the French Open. It takes years of grueling training and competition to nab gold at the Olympics. So why do the winners immediately chomp on their hard-earned prizes?

People once bit gold coins try to make an indent; a small tooth mark in a coin assured it consisted of real gold, which is more malleable than counterfeit gold-plated lead coins.

The medals contain 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen, the heroine of the Olympics in London, who was a good friend of mine, once told me that she had to have her four gold medals re-gilded two times over the years. An article called "Why Olympic winners bite their medals? It also says athletes started biting medals because the "photographers ask them to. A: If athletes hold their medals close to their faces, photographers can get simultaneous close-ups of medals and the athletes' expressions.

Photographers may have asked athletes to pose by biting their medals. Of course, biting on gold used to be a way to tell if it was genuine the real thing will show slight bite marks. But most Olympians probably know by now that their gold medal is mostly made up of silver and copper. Have you got a Big Question you'd like us to answer?