I think it's just how the forum software handles it - as when I make a post/create a thread initially it only shows two medals for me and my avatar and character details are not shown. Refreshing the page then makes it load as normal. So I guess it's just the forum not refreshing the account and character information on the page quickly enough and takes a few moments for that extra info to become available.

The medals are pretty meaningless though as they're just an indicator of how many likes your posts have gained or how many posts you've liked yourself, and have no other bearing on the forum or the game itself.