Tarnishing Paris Olympics medals put luxury goods firm LVMH in spotlight

By Tariq Panja & Liz Alderman 

Rarely in Olympic history had a single company been as ubiquitous as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury goods empire owned by France’s richest family. 

As the Paris Olympics’ biggest corporate sponsor, LVMH was everywhere. But its most significant role involved the Olympic medals, which were designed by Chaumet, a luxury jewelry and watch maker and part of the LVMH group. Gold, silver and bronze — the very best athletes would take them back home as mementos of their feats at the Paris Games. 

Now those medals are falling apart — and LVMH has fallen silent. In just over 100 days since the Olympics closed, more than 100 athletes have asked for their crumbling medals to be replaced. Last month, Clement Secchi and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, French swimmers, showed their flaking medals on social media.  

 

Nick Itkin, a US Olympic foil fencer, said his bronze medal started to deteriorate a few days after the Olympics. “But after like a few weeks, it got more noticeable,” he said, adding that he planned to ask for a replacement. Medals have had to be replaced in other Olympics . The International Olympic Committee has apologised and says it will find replacements. Monnaie de Paris, the French mint, which produced the medals, has so far taken responsibility, blaming the problem on a technical issue related to varnish. 

And LVMH has been happy to let the other organisations do the talking. A spokesman for the company said because it did not make the medals and is not responsible for them, LVMH has no comment. 

Mint, a French institution that has produced money and other precious objects since the Middle Ages, began and internal inquiry into the issue and discovered that the varnish used to prevent oxidation was defective.  

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