On Monday, the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics organizers revealed that they are investigating the reason for the unfurnished medal quality given to winners in the competition. The concern was brought into effect after skier Breezy Johnson during an interview exposed the medal condition given on her victory saying they were falling apart. The organizers, however, are reviewing the matter and making sure no further damage occurs.
In a recent press meet, Milan-Cortina 2026 chief games operating officer Andrea Francisi addressing the concern said, “We are aware of the situation. We have seen the images. Obviously, we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem.”
However, this is not the first time the Olympians have experienced such an incident. Earlier at the 2024 Paris Games due to a small piece of scrap metal from the Eiffel Tower over 220 medals had to be replaced due to their low quality as it had later turned black and rusted. Meanwhile, the 1,146 medals included in the 2026 Winter Games have been manufactured by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Italy’s national mint.
Olympic medallist with medal concerns
Johnson was the first to bring the concern into highlight who won the gold medal in the women’s downhill alpine skiing category at the Winter Games on Sunday, February 8. As proof she showed a broken medal to the media at the press conference. She, however, informed the other winners to carefully deal with the medal.
“So there’s the medal. And there’s the ribbon. And here’s the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal, and yeah, it came apart,” she told reporters. “Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke… It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken,” she added.
Meanwhile, Alysa Liu who won gold as part of the USA figure skating team the same day also mentioned the same concern where her medal got separated from the ribbon that was holding it.
In a video posted on Instagram that showed Liu holding the medal in one hand and the ribbon in the other she wrote, “My medal don’t need the ribbon.”
On the other hand, biathlete Justus Strelow of Germany, after celebrating a bronze medal victory in the mixed relay with his teammates, encountered a hilarious moment where his medal came out in between falling on the ground. The moment was captured in a video posted on Instagram that showed him along with the German relay team jumping up and down in celebration and he says, “Hey Olympics, what’s up with those medals?”
