A Japanese mayor is under fire for biting the Olympic gold medal of a softball player who was visiting him after competing in the 2020 Tokyo …
A Japanese mayor is under fire for biting the Olympic gold medal of a softball player who was visiting him after competing in the 2020 Tokyo games. Mayor Takashi Kawamura of Nagoya, Japan was praising pitcher Miu Goto for her Olympic victory during a visit Aug.4, when he pulled down his mask and bit into her medal, according to The Associated Press. He reportedly did not ask Goto for her permission to bite the medal. The move was widely criticized for being disrespectful and unhygienic as Covid-19 cases are surging in Japan. “I’m really sorry that I hurt the treasure of the gold medalist,” Kawamura said Thursday according to The Associated Press. Kawamura claims he did not damage the medal, though he offered to pay for the cost of a new one, The Associated Press reported. Despite the fact biting medals has become a common practice in the Olympic community, an official from Nagoya City Hall told CNN that they received have more than 8,000 complaints about Kawamura’s actions.
