Less than a week into the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, at least four athletes have watched their hard-earned medals break or snap apart, including one of Team USA’s first gold medals of the Games.
Alpine skier Breezy Johnson’s gold medal for winning the women’s downhill didn’t even survive the medal ceremony on Sunday. Her gold medal was ripped from its ribbon necklace almost as soon as she celebrated her victory.
“Don’t jump in them,” Johnson told her fellow Olympians, displaying the broken medal to reporters. “I was jumping in excitement, and it broke. I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken.”Johnson joked that she may have set the record for shortest-lived Olympic medal, though she eventually received a replacement, per AP News.
She wasn’t alone.
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu, who won gold in the team event Sunday night, posted a video on social media showing her medal, which also detached from its blue ribbon. Liu captioned the video, writing, “My medal don’t need the ribbon.”
European Olympians also saw some of their medals break or rip.
German athlete Justus Strelow was captured on television celebrating when his mixed relay bronze suddenly detached from the ribbon and clattered to the floor. Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson also reported that her women’s skiathlon silver medal fell in the snow and broke in two.
The Olympic organizing committee would even publicly recognize the medal problems on Monday.
Andrea Francisi, the committee’s chief games operations officer, told reporters that the committee is investigating why the medals are breaking and is giving the problem “maximum attention.”
“We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. We are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem,” Francisi said. “But we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it.”
According to Reuters, the problem may stem from a flawed design, creating a weak point where the ribbon connects to the actual medal. The medals are fitted with a breakaway mechanism that releases when pulled with force to prevent choking. However, the medal’s weight appears to be triggering these mechanisms prematurely during celebrations.
The medals themselves feature a unique design split into two halves: one with a mirrored, ice-like surface and the other with a frosty, rougher texture. Creators describe the design as the “union of two parts in constant motion” and as symbolizing the dual host cities of Milan and Cortina. However, some athletes have also reported that these halves are prone to splitting or chipping when they hit the ground.
What are Olympic medals actually made of?
Despite their appearance, Olympic gold medals aren’t solid gold.
According to International Olympic Committee rules, gold medals must be made of at least 92.5 percent silver and plated with just 6 grams of gold. Silver medals are pure silver, while bronze medals are typically 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc.
The Guinness Book of World Records claims that the last time solid-gold medals were awarded was at the 1912 Olympic Games.
The 2026 Milan-Cortina medals were manufactured by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Italy’s national mint, and are the first Olympic medals made entirely from recycled materials in the history of the games.
Due to surging precious metal prices throughout this year, the gold medals are currently valued at around $2,300 – more than double their worth at the Paris Olympics. Silver medals are worth nearly $1,400 – not accounting for sentimental value, of course.
Not the first
The Milan-Cortina issues come just a few years after a different quality scandal rocked the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
More than 100 athletes reported that their Paris medals began to rust, flake, and discolor within weeks of receiving them.
French swimmers described their bronze medals as having “crocodile skin,” per ESPN, while American skateboarder Nyjah Huston said his looked like it “went to war and back.”
The Paris medals, which featured an 18-gram piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, apparently had a “faulty varnish.”
New European Union regulations banned chromium trioxide – the chemical typically used to prevent rust – which allegedly forced manufacturers to use a less durable alternative. The IOC later told the athletes that they would replace all “defective” Paris medals.
For now, athletes at the Milan-Cortina Games are being cautious. American figure skater Danny O’Shea said he and his teammates are trying not to do too much jumping around. His teammate Ellie Kam told USA Today she’s keeping her gold medal safe by sleeping with it under her pillow.
