Why Olympians bite their medals like cookies

After medal-winning Olympians stand on the platform, receive their medals, and solemnly listen to the gold medal winner's national anthem, they leave the stage and face an army of photographers. In front of the flashing lights, many winners grab their medals and take a bite.

One of the most iconic and common photos in the Olympics is the gold medal between an Olympian's teeth. 

Raphael Nadal is different. He has the power to make anything like cookies. The Spanish beast doesn't forget to put a bite even in his trophies.

It takes years of practice and training to get to qualify for the Olympics. Then why do Olympians try to eat their hard-earned prizes?

According to David Wallechinsky, the writer of "The Complete Book of the Olympics" and the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, the simple answer is, the photographers asked them to do so. 

"It's become an obsession with the photographers," Wallechinsky told CNN.

He said to CNN, "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."

But who did this for the first time is still unknown.

There was a time when gold coins were used for trade. People put a tooth mark to check where the coin was real or fake. 

The real gold medal was served only in the 1912 Olympics. Afterwards, the medals are made of silver with a layer of gilt. It gives the medal a golden look. Maybe this is one of the reasons to bite the gold medal.

Psychologist Frank Farley believes that medalists bite their medals because, at this point, it's what winning Olympians do.

But he believes that medal biting is more than Olympians simply acting like winners. "It makes your medals yours," Farley said. "It's an emotional connection with your accomplishment."

The Tokyo Organising Committee tweeted, "We just want to officially confirm that the #Tokyo2020 medals are not edible!"

"Our gold, silver and bronze medals are made from material recycled from electronic devices donated by the Japanese public," it added.