2012 London Olympics: Felipe Kitadai Showers With Bronze Medal, Breaks It
Winning an Olympic medal is one of the greatest accomplishments an athlete can hope to achieve at the international level. Whether it’s a gold, silver or bronze medal it’s still a huge honor for an athlete to be able to wear one around their neck.
After winning a medal it’s common for that athlete to wear it around as much as possible to show off their accomplishment. They wear it on the podium, they wear it around the Olympic village and show it off to their family. One place that it might not be a good idea to wear their medal is in the shower. Just ask Brazilian judoka competitor Felipe Kitadai.
Kitadai won the bronze medal in the men’s 60-kilogram division Saturday and was carrying it everywhere afterwards. As a joke he brought it into the shower with him but he dropped and broke it while trying to keep it dry.
Kitadai told a Brazilian website that the part holding the medals string broke and that now prevents him from wearing it around his neck. After he dropped it he also saw that there was a dent in it.
Now, Kitadai is fighting to have it replaced. The Brazilian Olympic Committee says that it will request a new medal but they are aware that the International Olympic Committee has no obligation to supply Kitadai with another one.
Nobody can blame him for wanting to wear his medal everywhere seeing that it’s a major feat for an international athlete to earn. Hopefully the IOC will provide him with another medal since it was an accident that it broke. However, the rest of the athletes may want to take note of his mistake and avoid bringing it in the shower with them.
