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Olympic gold medals are made of silver

Society Materials 18 August 2008 16:14 (UTC +04:00)

The gold medals awarded at the Beijing Olympics are mostly made of silver, the Games' organizing committee BOCOG admitted Monday, dpa reported.

Each medal contains only 6 per cent pure gold, BOCOG secretary-general Wang Wei said. The bulk is silver, he added.

Wang dismissed as "a joke" claims made by internet bloggers that the medals contained lead.

The raw materials for the medals came from Australia and were vetted by a state-approved testing authority to ensure they were indeed precious metals, Wang said.

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