The organizing committee said Italy’s national mint would promptly repair medals with issues, according to the AP on Tuesday.
Questions about medal quality surfaced after U.S. alpine skier Breezy Johnson, the women’s downhill gold medalist, arrived at a post-ceremony news conference on Saturday wearing only the ribbon. Asked where the medal was, she pulled it from her pocket and said it was broken. She said she had been jumping in celebration when it suddenly fell off.
Other cases have been reported by outlets including USA TODAY and Germany’s Bild. German biathlete Justus Strelow said he noticed a crack after his mixed relay bronze medal separated from its ribbon and fell to the floor while he was celebrating at the team lodging. Sweden’s Eva Andersson, a cross-country skiing silver medalist, said her medal broke after it fell onto snow and added, “I hope the organizing committee has a plan for broken medals.”
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu also posted a photo on social media holding her team event gold medal in one hand and the ribbon in the other, writing, “My medal doesn’t need a ribbon.”
The medals were promoted as environmentally friendly, made by Italy’s national mint using recycled metal recovered from scrap and produced in a furnace powered by 100% renewable energy.
As criticism continued, organizers opened an investigation and said they had a fix. Communications director Luca Casasa said the problem was not with the gold, silver or bronze medals themselves, but with the ribbon and the clasp. He said athletes who received affected medals can return them through a designated process for immediate repair.
Medal issues also drew attention at the 2024 Paris Olympics. InsideTheGames reported in March last year that France’s mint received requests from 220 athletes to replace their medals — about 4% of the 5,084 medals awarded — and said replacement medals would include a protective coating to improve durability.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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