Organisers of the Milano Cortina Winter Games have launched an investigation after athletes reported that their medals are cracking, chipping, or breaking shortly after being awarded. The gold, silver, and bronze prizes have been found to be less robust than expected, with several incidents coming to light.
Andrea Francisi, the Games' Chief Operations Officer, acknowledged the issue on Monday. 'We are fully aware of the situation and you have seen the pictures,' he said at a press conference. 'We are looking into what exactly the problem is.' He added that organisers would pay 'maximum attention to the medals' to ensure they are perfect for the athletes.
American downhill skier Breezy Johnson displayed her cracked and chipped medal to reporters, saying, 'It is heavy, it’s broken. It’s a look.' She explained that the damage occurred when she was jumping in excitement and the medal fell off. German biathlete Justus Strelow reportedly broke his bronze medal during team celebrations, while Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson's silver medal from the women's skiathlon also suffered damage. 'The medal fell in the snow and broke in two,' Andersson told Swedish broadcaster SVT. 'Now I hope the organisers have a Plan B for broken medals.'
The complaints follow similar issues at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, where US skateboarder Nyjah Huston posted a video showing his bronze medal chipped and losing colour after just a week. He described it as looking 'like it went to war and back' and said it was 'not as high quality as you’d think'. The investigation in Italy continues as athletes hope for more durable mementoes of their Olympic success.
