Sue Bird’s international fame and feats are quite legendary. She has won 5 Olympic gold medals, along with 4 FIBA World Cups. These global distinctions make her a triumphant tale. However, an interesting story is left for her to share from the time she made the nation proud.

As a Husky, Sue Bird led UConn to two NCAA championships in 2000 and 2002. Then after stepping into the WNBA and being drafted first overall, she quickly became a force to be reckoned with securing a record four WNBA championships and winning titles in three different decades. But the champ had her interesting moments too, especially when pilots took her first Olympic gold medal.

“Everybody Wanted To Touch It”

In her special Women’s Day appearance on ‘The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon’, WNBA veteran Sue Bird shares the wild story about her first Olympic gold medal being taken away by the pilots on her flight back from Athens. She says, “A flight attendant came up to me and asked, ‘Hey, are you Sue Bird? Do you have your gold medal on you? The pilots would like to see it.’ “

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Although she gave her medal for the pilots to see, what went on was something unexpected for her as she puts it, “Before I knew it, that medal was, like, up and down the aisles. Everybody — everybody just wanted to touch it,” which gave her a different sense of resonance from the people, “the Olympics always meant something for me, and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, this is different. This is a different level of fame. Everybody’s cheering for you. Everybody wants you to win, see you succeed. It’s a totally different thing.’ “

It was her first Olympic gold medal that she had won in the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. She clinched the prestigious medal by playing alongside her fellow Huskies – Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi, yet playing a pivotal role and securing USA’s 74-63c victory over Australia.

Taking Sue Bird Back in Time, Caitlin Clark Credits Proud Father for Exceptional Success

Athletes like Sue Bird have left an everlasting mark on people’s hearts and in the history of women’s basketball. However, there is still one thing that lingers on in anticipation. Let’s take a deep dive and try to seek the answer.

If the Olympic gold is real gold?

The answer to this question has changed with the change in times. Currently, it has been stated by the International Olympic Committee that an official Olympic gold medal must consist of at least 92.5% silver, and must contain a minimum of 6 grams of gold.

To understand its importance, we have to go back a few steps in history. In ancient Greece, there were no medals given to the athletes, instead, they were given wreaths made out of olive branches of an olive tree in Olympia. This tradition continued until the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. This was also the first year to ever award medals.

However, the winners of each event received a silver medal while the runner-up received bronze. Notably, the 1900 Olympic Games saw a slight transition as the finishers attaining first place were awarded gold plates and silver medals, however, in only specific events, as majority of the events were being contested for cups and trophies. This was the first Olympics where silver and bronze medals were awarded to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Moreover, all the medals were square.

Now, coming to the modern-day medal system, it did not occur until the 1904 Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri. These Games were the first to award traditional gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top three athletes in each event, where gold medals consisted of solid gold as the metal was much cheaper to obtain before World War I. The tradition was followed up until 1912.

Once again, the host countries started utilizing gold-plated silver in medals, i.e. the core of the medal is made of silver, with a thin layer of gold on the outside giving the appearance of a gold medal. The logic behind this approach is that gold, in comparison to silver, is an extremely soft metal and can be easily bent or damaged in comparison to the silver-plated ones.