Several Olympic athletes’ medals have broken within hours of them being received at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
The sporting event organisers are now investigating the reports with ‘maximum attention’ after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.
It comes after women’s downhill ski gold medalist Breezy Johnson told of how her medal broke after her win on Sunday.
‘Don´t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke,’ she said. ‘I´m sure somebody will fix it. It´s not crazy broken, but a little broken.’
Johnson’s teammate Keely Cashman added that the weight of the gold medal may have had something to do with it snapping from the ribbon.
‘I wasn’t super surprised. I felt the weight of it, so I was like, that better be a hefty string or whatever was holding it,’ Cashman said on Monday.
TV footage broadcast in Germany also captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realised the mixed relay bronze he’d won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.
His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realising a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.
Women’s downhill ski gold medalist Breezy Johnson told of how her medal broke after her win on Sunday
As she jumped up and down, the medal dropped to the ground after breaking from the ribbon
United States’ Breezy Johnson shows her gold medal in the alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
US figure skater Alysa Liu also posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.
‘My medal don´t need the ribbon,’ Liu wrote early Monday.
Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organising committee, said it was working on a solution.
‘We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously, we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem,’ Francisi said Monday.
‘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.’
A United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee spokesperson told BBC Sport they are waiting for organisers to resolve the issue.
It has not yet been confirmed whether athletes will receive replacement medals.
It isn’t the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.
As of February 2025, a total of 220 requests have been made to replace medals won at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics because of wear and tear – around four per cent of those awarded.
Some of the medals from the event also had to be replaced after athletes, including Diver Yasmin Harper, who won Team GB’s first medal of the 2024 Games, complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.
Nyjah Huston, who came third in the men’s skateboard street, said in a video posted to Instagram in 2024 that his bronze was already chipped and losing its colour days after winning it.
US figure skater Alysa Liu also posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon
TV footage broadcast in Germany also captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realised the mixed relay bronze he’d won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates
He said the medal was looking like ‘it went to war and back’ and added that it was ‘not as high quality as you’d think’ as the bronze appeared to have rubbed off.
‘Alright, so these Olympic medals look great when they’re brand new,’ Huston said in the post to his five million followers.
‘But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and letting my friends wear it over the weekend…’ he continued, before zooming in on the medal to show its condition.
‘They’re apparently not as high quality as you’d think… It’s looking rough… I don’t know, Olympic medals, we gotta step up the quality a little bit.’
Paris 2024 organisers said any damaged medals would be replaced.
Following Johnson’s medal incident, she revealed she has a tradition of knitting a new headband for herself before each race.
She finished her one for the downhill on Saturday night, and was still tucking in some stray yarns before the race.
Johnson plans to auction the headband – light blue with red and white diagonal stripes – off at some point to raise money for charity.
Asked if she might wear it again since it has good luck attached to it, Johnson was stunned.
‘I have to have a new one,’ she said. ‘I know that even if I did well in one of them, if I bring it back, it’s not lucky anymore.’
