"Big Kong" Kongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), clarifies all issues after "May Ratchanok" was shocked to find her SEA Games gold medal peeling less than a month after receiving it.
On 7 Jan 2025 GMT+7, updates emerged regarding "May" Ratchanok Intanon, Thai national women's badminton player, who won two gold medals in the women's singles and team events. She encountered a problem with her gold medal peeling and confirmed she had not used it publicly but was puzzled why it was gradually peeling.
Recently, "Big Kong" Kongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), confirmed that the medal meets standards and that this peeling issue has been found in only this single case. He stated that a replacement medal has been provided to the affected athlete and the problematic medal has been sent to a laboratory to determine whether the defect was due to production flaws or external factors.
The manufacturer confirmed that the medal complies with international standards, identical to those used in the World Games, and has passed proper laboratory inspections. Experts indicated that peeling might occur if the medal comes into contact with certain substances since the medal is not 100% gold but a metal alloy according to manufacturing standards.
So far, only one medal has been found with peeling issues. There may be other cases not yet reported, which athletes might already understand the cause of, such as severe scratching or accidents. If additional cases are reported, they will all undergo laboratory examination.