Organizers of the 2026 Winter Olympics say they’re investigating why medals are breaking — not even one week into the Games — after some athletes reported issues.
Team USA alpine ski racing gold medallist Breezy Johnson revealed during a press conference that the ribbon of her sporting hardware had broken away from the metal shortly after she was presented with the prize.
“So there’s the medal. And there’s the ribbon,” she said, showing the lone blue sash to a room full of reporters. “And here’s the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal, and yeah, it came apart.”
“I was jumping up and down in excitement, then it just fell off,” she continued, before holding up the detached gold pendant.
“I’m sure somebody will fix it…. It’s not like crazy broken, but it’s a little broken,” she added, before warning a fellow athlete not to jump while wearing the medal.
Similarly, Alysa Liu, Team USA figure skating gold medallist, revealed that her medal had broken apart shortly after she won it.
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“My medal don’t need the ribbon,” she wrote in an Instagram video showing off the separated elements.
Fellow team event gold medallist Ellie Kam said Liu, her roommate, was jumping for joy when the medal fell and picked up “a couple of dents.”
“She was so excited that she was jumping up and down, and the medal is a little bit too heavy for the ribbon, I think, so it just popped off,” Kam told Reuters on Monday.
Liu later had the medal replaced, Kam said.
“It was a lot more drama than I thought there was going to be when I got back to my room,” she added. “But all is well and good.”
German athlete Justus Strelow’s medal also fell apart during celebrations.
A video of him and his biathlon team enjoying their third-place finish showed the medal separating from the ribbon and falling to the ground as he jumped up and down.
“Hey Olympics, what’s up with those medals?” the caption reads. “Are they not meant to be celebrated?”
Meanwhile, Swedish cross‑country skier Ebba Andersson said her silver medal “fell in the snow and broke in two” during a victory lap.
“Now I hope the organizers have a Plan B for broken medals,” she said.
Milan-Cortina 2026 chief Games operations officer Andrea Francisi told the BBC that event organizers were aware of the issue and were investigating.
“We are fully aware of the situation,” he said. “We are looking into exactly what the problem is.
“We are going to pay maximum attention to the medals, and obviously, this is something we want to be perfect when the medal is handed over because this is one of the most important moments for the athletes.”
A source close to the situation told Reuters the issue may stem from the medals’ cord, which is fitted with a breakaway mechanism required by law.
The system is designed to release automatically if pulled with force, preventing the wearer from being choked.
— With files from Reuters
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