Gold plated

I find this pathetic. The Olympics are a multi-billion dollar industry, which at the end of the day rides on the talents and literal blood and sweat of the athletes. The Olympic committee members are wined and dined around the world with the status of heads of state.

Yet the best athletes in the world. Those who win a gold medal. Don't actually get a gold metal.

It's gold-plated silver. It must contain at least 6 grams of gold (roughly $150 on the current market.) I've seen some different statistics, one saying the medals are 150 grams, another saying roughly 250. Let's assume the last one, and assume that the Jade makes up 50 grams, that leaves 200 grams of metal. Current gold prices are about $710 for 28 grams. So a medal would be worth about $5050 in gold. According to Yahoo answers, there will be 302 gold medals issued. For a total of just over 1.5 million dollars worth of gold.

The Olympics can afford that. NBC paid more than 800 million dollars to win the broadcast rights in the US. Internationally, the bids add up to well over a billion dollars.

With all the money behind the Olympics, the least they could do is give actual gold medals to the winners.