Winter Olympic Champions Display Broken Medals in Milan
Winning an Olympic medal is one of the proudest and most fulfilling achievements in all of sports, but some Olympians are dealing with equipment malfunctions after receiving their precious metal pendants at this year's games in Italy.
Just days into the 2026 Winter Olympics, multiple athletes have shown broken or defective medals on social media. American figure skater Alysa Liu posted a video of the team gold medal she won on Sunday night, complete with a detached ribbon.
"My medal don't need the ribbon," Liu said in the video's caption.
Another American, downhill skier Breezy Johnson, had her gold medal break as she was celebrating with it following the ceremony.
“Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke,” Johnson said, speaking with reporters after the unfortunate incident with her medal. “I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken.”
On German television, cameras captured Justus Strelow's mixed relay bronze medal as it fell from his neck during his celebration. Strelow attempted to put the medal back together, but his efforts were unsuccessful as another piece had broken off after it fell to the ground.
Organizers Investigating Medal Issues
Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, says that organizers are aware of the issue and that they are seeking a solution.
"We have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said.
"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."
Olympic Medal Problems Have Been a Trend
Similar issues were reported at the Summer Games in Paris two years ago. Medals at the most recent summer Olympics were under scrutiny after they appeared to tarnish or corrode.
Bronze medals were particularly subject to the tarnishing in Paris, as a newly-formed varnish was used following a ban on chromium trioxide throughout Europe. The material was proven to be highly toxic and potentially carcinogenic, prompting organizers to use a different varnish without sufficient testing time.
Over 100 medalists from Paris 2024 have requested new medals in the months after that year's Games, and it appears that the fragility issue in Milan is presenting a new set of challenges and obstacles for event organizers.