Tokyo Olympic gold medal replaced after first got bitten
Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Japanese city Nagoya, sparked fury online when he lowered his mask and bit on softball athlete Miu Goto's medal at an event
An Olympic gold medallist will be given a new medal after the mayor of her hometown chomped on the first.
Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Japanese city Nagoya, sparked fury online when he lowered his mask and bit on softball athlete Miu Goto's medal at an event, reports the BBC.
He was accused of ignoring Covid-19 restrictions and "lacking respect".
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Now, Olympic officials say they will swap Ms Goto's medal for an untarnished one, after the mayor apologised and said he would pay for a replacement.
The mayor faced a backlash after putting the medal between his teeth at a ceremony last week to celebrate Japan's victory over the USA in the women's softball final.
Social media users said the act was unhygienic and impolite towards the athlete.
"Apart from showing a lack of respect for athletes, he bit it even though [athletes] are putting on medals themselves or on their team-mates during medal ceremonies as part of infection prevention measures. Sorry, I can't understand it," Japanese silver medallist fencer Yuki Ota wrote on Twitter.
"Germ medal" was soon trending on social media in Japan.
