Over 100 reportedly defective Olympic medals were returned following the Paris 2024 games, and the issue seems to persist in Italy.
To an outsider, one might assume that an Olympic medal would be of the highest quality and exceptionally durable. However, athletes at the Milano Cortina games are sharing a different narrative.
According to French outlet La Lettre, more than 100 athletes who earned bronze, silver, or gold at the Paris summer games returned their medals within six months due to issues.
And it seems these medal problems have carried over into this year’s events.
Team USA’s Breezy Johnson informed the press that her gold medal from the women’s downhill alpine skiing event on Sunday (February 8) had split into two pieces.
“So there’s the medal. And there’s the ribbon,” the Olympian explained to the gathered reporters. “And here’s the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal. And yeah, it came apart.”
In another instance, German biathlete Justus Strelow was celebrating with his teammates when he noticed that his newly won bronze medal had detached from the ribbon around his neck and fallen to the floor.
Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu experienced a similar issue and shared her broken medal on Instagram.
She captioned the brief clip: “My medal don’t need the ribbon. Proud of the team.”
Olympic officials have addressed the controversy over the medals and are working on a resolution.
Milano Cortina 2026 Chief Games Operations Officer Andrea Francisi spoke to the press on Monday (February 9): “We are aware of the situation. We have seen the images. Obviously, we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem.
“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 spokesperson for Paris 2024 previously stated that replacement medals would be sent to athletes experiencing problems, so it will be interesting to see if a similar approach will be taken for the Milan games.