Olympic Officials Replace Japanese Softball Star's Gold Medal After It Was Bitten By Local Mayor

We're used to seeing Olympians themselves bite down on their medals while standing at the podium or posing for photographs, certainly not other random people - and especially not politicians.

Well, it seems one high-profile bloke over in Japan just couldn't help himself and his "inappropriate" act has sparked widespread outrage.

Olympic officials have now been forced to replace a Japanese athlete's gold medal after it was bitten (yes bitten) by a local mayor.

PA

Softball star Miu Goto was attending an event to celebrate Japan's historic victory over favourites the United States which helped secure a gold medal for the host nation at the Tokyo Games.

Unfortunately for Goto, the commemorative event turned out to be far more - well - eventful than what she was probably expecting.

Takashi Kawamura, who is the mayor for Nagoya, somehow managed to get his hands on Goto's sparkling gold medal and decided to remove his mask and wrap his mouth around it.

When images flooded social media showing Kawamura sinking his teeth into the medal, he immediately copped plenty of backlash and was forced to issue an apology.

"I forgot my position as Nagoya mayor and acted in an extremely inappropriate way," Kawamura said while appearing on television.

"I am fully aware that I should reflect on that."

But the story didn't just end with Goto innocently cleaning her gold medal under a warm tap to rid it of any lingering germs.

Olympic officials eventually caught wind of the situation after receiving a reported 7000 complaints and reached out to Goto to issue her a brand new medal.

"With support from the International Olympic Committee and in line with her own intention, Ms Goto's medal is now set to be exchanged for a new one," organisers said in a statement.

Ironically, the Nagoya mayor chomped down on the medal while standing in front of a massive press backdrop which had a message urging Japanese citizens to continue being COVID-safe.

As you can probably imagine, social media went into meltdown after seeing the damning image.

But while the core of the outcry came from the Japanese public, a couple of big-name figures also chimed in on condemning Kawamura's gross actions.

"Apart from showing a lack of respect for athletes, he bit it even though (athletes) are putting on medals themselves or on their teammates during medal ceremonies as part of infection prevention measures," Japanese silver medallist fencer Yuki Ota tweeted.

"Sorry, I can't understand it."

Topics: Medal, olympics, Tokyo Olympics, Gold Medal, Australia, Japan

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry