IT’S a question on the lips of many sports fans whenever the Olympics rolls around.

The gold medal winner’s national anthem has just finished ringing out around the stadium, there’s a big wave to the crowd and then before you know it, they face the cameras and start giving their medal a right good chew.

So why do they do it?

We decided to find out once and for all and asked our photographer Paul Heaps to give us the scoop.

He said: “I think it’s to do with the old way of checking if gold is real.

“You would bite down on it and it's become the picture you always see when athletes win gold."

Biting down on gold was an old practice to test whether coins were counterfeit as pure gold is relatively soft so any base metals mixed with the gold to lessen its value will also harden the coin and make it harder to bite on.

Paul added: “It also gives you a different shot rather than them just smiling at the camera with their medal.”

Which got us thinking…what alternative poses could photographers in Rio suggest or Olympians offer to strike instead?

1. The Pat Butcher

Wirral Globe:

Double Olympic medal champs like Max Whitlock could create a pair of medal earrings a la Eastenders favourite Pat Butcher

2. The Usain Bolt

Wirral Globe:

In tribute to the triple 100m Olympic gold medal winner, perhaps more athletes should be encouraged to strike the Jamaican’s pose when they’ve done something truly superhuman

3. The face frame

Wirral Globe:

It doesn’t have to always be about the bling, make the most of the colourful medal ribbon by turning it into the perfect frame for your face. 

Has your child ever won a medal with their school or sports club?

Send your medal pose pictures to hannah.bargery@nqnw.co.uk