On Feb. 8 (local time), U.S. alpine skier Breezy Johnson, the women’s downhill gold medalist, walked into a post-ceremony news conference wearing only the ribbon. Asked where the medal was, she pulled it from her pocket and said, with an awkward smile, “It broke,” adding, “I was jumping up and down because I was so happy, and it suddenly fell off.”
According to USA TODAY and Germany’s Bild, Johnson’s case was not the first. German biathlete Justus Strelow said he discovered his mixed relay bronze medal had separated from its ribbon and cracked after falling to the floor while he was celebrating at the team lodging. Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson, a silver medalist, said, “The medal fell onto the snow and broke. I hope the organizing committee has a plan for broken medals.”
Liu also posted after winning team event gold, sharing a photo of herself holding the medal and the ribbon separately and writing, “My medal doesn’t need a ribbon.”
The medals were made by Italy’s national mint and have been promoted as eco-friendly: the first in Olympic history produced using recycled metal recovered from scrap, made in a furnace powered by 100% renewable energy, according to the report.
As complaints mounted, organizers said they were working on a fix. Andrea Pracisi, the organizing committee’s chief operating officer, told a news conference on Feb. 9 that officials were aware of the durability problem and had reviewed photos. “We are investigating the exact cause,” he said, adding, “Because this is the most important issue for the athletes, we will resolve everything perfectly.”
The issue follows problems at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where hundreds of awarded medals drew replacement requests. In March last year, the Olympics-focused outlet Inside the Games reported that France’s mint, which oversaw medal production, received requests from 220 athletes to replace their medals. That was about 4% of the 5,084 medals awarded at the Games. The mint, which was carrying out replacements, said the new medals would receive a protective coating to improve durability.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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