It’s not a chocolate coin wrapped in gold foil, people. That’s actual metal that composes that Olympic medal, so why do athletes bite them?
大伙儿，这可不是包裹在金箔纸里的金币巧克力，奥运会金牌是货真价实的金属制品，那为什么运动员热衷于咬金牌？
There’s actually a few reasons, but the most obvious is that it’s a pose photographers really, really like to capture.
还真有几种解释，但最明显的一个原因是，这是一个摄影师非常喜欢捕捉的拍照造型。
“It’s become an obsession with the photographers,” David Wallechinsky, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians and co-author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics” told CNN in 2012. “I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.”
国际奥林匹克历史学家协会主席、《奥运大全》的合著者戴维•沃利金斯基在2012年接受CNN采访时说：“这已成为摄影师痴迷的拍照造型，我觉得他们把这看作一种标志性的镜头，认为这样的照片会比较受欢迎。不过如果让运动员自己选的话，我觉得他们还真不一定会这么做。”
Biting down on a hunk of metal is more likely something someone might have done during the Gold Rush to test whether the shiny golden rock they just panned for was actually pyrite or fool’s gold. Human teeth are harder than gold but softer than pyrite, according to the Mohs Hardness Scale. This means a quick gnaw to real gold would actually leave an indentation. A hard chew of pyrite, meanwhile, might damage your teeth.
对着大块的金属咬下去，这更像是淘金热时期的人可能做的事情，目的是测试刚淘出来的金光闪闪的石块是否只是黄铁矿或者愚人金。根据莫氏硬度表，人类牙齿的硬度比黄金大但比黄铁矿小。这意味着迅速咬一下真正的黄金，会留下牙印。而使劲咬黄铁矿则可能会毁掉你的牙齿。
The practice also once served to see whether coins were solid gold or just gold-plated over a cheaper metal, Today I Found Out explains.
《今日发现》解释称，这一做法也曾用来判断硬币是纯金的，还是用较便宜的金属镀金的。
With that in mind, it’s likely that Old West/pirate lore led to someone once biting their Olympic medal in a spontaneous, “Is this real life?” moment, and the photographers thought it was cute. Because if someone really was hoping to discover whether that gold medal is pure gold, their smiles would quickly fade.
考虑到这一点，在怀疑“这一切都是真的么？”的获奖时刻，很可能是西方古代或海盗的传说曾使某个人自发地咬了一下奥运金牌，而摄影师认为这个动作很可爱。因为如果真有人希望测试那枚金牌是不是纯金的，他们的笑容很快就会消失。
Olympic gold medals are actually just 1.34 percent gold. The rest is sterling silver. And much of it is recycled silver this time around, which makes the 20-16 Rio medals “the most sustainable ever made,” according to Forbes magazine contributor Anthony DeMarco. DeMarco says the materials that make up a “gold” medal are worth $564.
奥运金牌实际上含金量只有1.34%，其余的都是标准纯银。福布斯杂志撰稿人安东尼•德马科称，本届奥运会大部分用的是回收银，这使2016年里约奥运金牌成为“有史以来最可持续的”。德马科表示，一枚“金”牌的制作材料价值564美元。
花絮：有人因此崩断门牙……
咬金牌的传统也曾造成意外。在2010温哥华冬奥中赢得仰式雪橇银牌的德国选手默勒(David Moeller)，就在拍照时不小心咬断了他的门牙。部分选手也选择亲吻金牌。
最让人难忘的是美国游泳名将罗切特，2009年7月30日，在意大利罗马举行的第13届世界游泳锦标赛男子200米个人混合泳决赛中，美国名将罗切特以1分54秒10的成绩夺冠并打破由队友菲尔普斯保持的原世界纪录，在领奖台上罗切特戴钻石牙套咬金牌，成为亮点。
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| 在领奖台上罗切特戴钻石牙套咬金牌 |
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| 当地时间时间8月11日，2016里约奥运女子体操个人全能比赛，美国名将拜尔斯夺得冠军。图为拜尔斯咬金牌庆祝。中新网记者 杜洋 摄 |
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| 在里约奥运会乒乓球女单决赛中，中国选手丁宁4-3战胜队友、卫冕冠军李晓霞，夺得冠军，为中国代表团摘得本届奥运会的第10枚金牌。 |
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| 里约奥运会男子200米自由泳的决赛中，孙杨不负众望以1分44秒65成功夺冠。 |
Vocabulary
fool's gold：“愚人之金”，是像金子般发光却没有任何真金的一种石头的名称。