On Feb. 8, 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 it was “broken,” adding, “I was so excited I was jumping up and down, and it suddenly just fell off.”
According to USA TODAY and Germany’s Bild, Johnson’s case was not the first. 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 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 highlighted the issue on social media after winning team event gold, posting a photo holding the medal and the ribbon separately and writing, “My medal doesn’t need a ribbon.”
The medals were made by Italy’s state mint using recycled metal recovered from scrap, produced in a furnace powered by 100% renewable energy — described as the first such effort in Olympic history.
With complaints growing, organizers said they are working on a response. Andrea Pracchi, the organizing committee’s chief operating officer, told a news conference on Feb. 9 that officials were aware of durability problems and had reviewed photos. “We are investigating the exact cause,” he said, adding that because it is “the most important issue for athletes,” organizers would “solve everything perfectly.”
Similar concerns surfaced at the 2024 Paris Olympics, when hundreds of medals drew replacement requests. InsideTheGames reported in March last year that France’s mint, which oversaw production, received requests from 220 athletes to replace their medals — about 4% of the 5,084 medals awarded. The mint said replacement medals would receive a protective coating to improve durability.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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