Olympic champions urged to return their medals after they pointed out serious issue
Poppy Bilderbeck
Featured Image Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty
Winter Olympics officials have introduced a 'targeted fix' after athletes complained their medals were breaking.
If you'd trained, sacrificed and fought your way into the Olympics and got so far as to win a medal only to find the medal then broke, well, you'd be pretty pissed off, wouldn't you?
And it's not just a dodgy one or two, but several athletes who have come forward to claim their medals have broken, such as Team USA's Breezy Johnson.
Johnson confirmed to press shortly after winning gold in the women's downhill alpine skiing event on February 8, her medal split into two - not ideal.
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German biathlete Justus Strelow also reported his bronze medal falling off its ribbon.
Milano Cortina 2026 Chief Games Operations Officer Andrea Francisi told press on Monday (February 9): "We are aware of the situation. We have seen the images. Obviously, we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem.
"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."
During a daily Milano Cortina briefing, Olympics spokesperson Luca Casassa confirmed there are 'issues affecting a small number of medals', adding the 'organising committee' have 'immediately reviewed the matter' and are 'working closely with the State Mint, which produced the medals'.
Fear not medal winners, as Casassa confirmed: "A solution has been identified, and a targeted fix has been put in place."
The spokesperson 'encouraged' athletes whose medals have been 'affected' to 'return them through the appropriate channels so that they can be promptly repaired and returned'.
He noted that 'as a precaution' the committee will be 'rechecking all of the medals to make sure that the athletes’ joy can really be 360 degrees when they conquer something which is so precious and so important for them, but also for us, the supporters'.
He resolved: "Milano Cortina 2026 remains fully committed to ensuring that medals, which represent the pinnacle of every athlete’s journey, meet the highest standards of quality and care."
And it's not the first time Olympic medals have been reported as breaking.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics, French outlet La Lettre reported over 100 athletes who claimed either bronze, silver or gold had to return their medals within six months.