'Don't jump in them': Olympic athletes' medals break during celebrations
United States' Breezy Johnson shows her gold medal in the alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Andy Wong
MILAN — Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.
Olympic organizers are investigating with “maximum attention” after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.
“Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken.”
TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.
His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.
“My medal don’t need the ribbon,” Liu wrote early Monday.
Alysa Liu of the United States celebrate with the crowd after Team USA wins gold in the figure skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Natacha Pisarenko
Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.
“We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem,” Francisi said Monday.
“But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously 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.”
It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.
Germany's Franziska Preuss, from left, Vanessa Voigt, Philipp Nawrath and Justus Strelow celebrate bronze on the podium for the 4X6-kilometer mixed relay biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Credit: AP/Andrew Medichini
Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.
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AP Sports Writer Daniella Matar in Milan and Andrew Dampf in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, contributed to this report.
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