To the Editor:

Well, they're finally over! Suffering through the breathless NBC "coverage" of Olympic "sports," many of which few of us have ever heard of, involving Zika-virus and Rio-mugging avoidance tips, inane commentary, and tedious "up-close and personals" punctuated by the occasional showing of an actual event and immediate post-race interviews with "heroes" gasping for breath, I wondered about the origins of the ridiculous habit of winning athletes appearing to take a bite out of their medal before the cameras. Testing for 24-karat purity, perhaps? Teeth marks could potentially reduce the full tax deductibility of the value of an Olympic medal proposed by Senator "Chuck" Schumer -- friend of underpaid athletes everywhere.

Gnawing away at trophies -- where did this all begin? This metal-chomping is now almost as de rigueur as patented in-game hugging and slapping and weeping at the drop of a beach volleyball, say.

Harry Locock - sports fan

Reston