Why does a gold medalist bite a medal in the photo?

Question

Why does a gold medalist bite a medal in the photo?

Answer 1

Gold is soft - in olden times, people would test the metal against their teeth.

It has become a ritual in the olympics, very few get to do this - The gold is no longer being tested - it is a ritual that allows the medal to be put close to the face for pictures - we are a visual world.

Answer 2

Back in the gold prospecting days, they used to bite the gold to see if it was real because fake gold or fool's gold isn't as hard as real gold and leaves teeth marks. It's just a tradition now that when someone gets a gold medal they bite it to "prove" it's real. It's a celebratory thing now.

Answer 3

I just asked the same thing. Apparently it goes back to the days when people would bite down on gold pieces to test that they were real. Fake gold would leave teethmarks as real gold does not. The athletes are "proving" their medals are real, it's a tradition thing at this point.  

Answer 4

It goes back to an old tradition and ritual of testing to see if it is real gold or not.  Real gold is soft and will have a death indentation.  It's more a notion of humor because everyone knows the gold medals are 90% silver.

Answer 5

Maybe to see if it's not just one of those chocolate candy things

wrapped in shiny foil.  Just kidding.