Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy– Handle with care. That’s the message of gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals destroyed within hours.
Olympic organizers are investigating with “utmost attention” after a string of medals fell from their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.
“Don’t jump in it. I was jumping from excitement and I broke,” Johnson, the women’s downhill gold medalist, said after her win on Sunday. “I’m sure someone will fix it. It’s not crazy broken but it’s a little broken.”
Johnson didn’t have to wait long for a replacement. By the time she got to the starting hill for Tuesday’s combined team event, she had already gotten a new one, though it still needed to be engraved.
When asked if she should keep the person seized, Johnson shook her head.
“They don’t let you have many of these things,” she said with a laugh.
Television footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strehlo realized the mixed relay bronze he won on Sunday had fallen from the ribbon around his neck and onto the floor as he danced to a song with his teammates.
His German teammates cheered as Strehlow tried unsuccessfully to reattach the medal before realizing that a smaller piece, apparently the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.
American figure skater Alyssa Liu, born in the Gulf region, He posted a clip on social media Her team event gold medal is separate from her official ribbon.
“My medal doesn’t need the ribbon,” Liu wrote early Monday.
Team USA’s Alyssa Liu celebrates her gold medal after the snowboarding team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, February 8, 2026.
AP Photo/Ashley Landis
Andrea Francesi, chief gaming operations officer at the Milan-Cortina organizing committee, said the committee was working to find a solution.
“We are aware of the situation, we have seen the pictures. We are trying to understand in detail whether there is a problem,” Francesi said on Monday.
“But we pay maximum attention to this issue, because the medal is the dream of athletes, so we want everything to be absolutely perfect at the moment it is awarded, because we really consider it the most important moment. So we are working on that.”
This is not the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.
After the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or wear away, giving them a mottled appearance similar to crocodile skin.
AP Sports Writers Daniela Matar in Milan and Andrew Dumpf in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, contributed to this report.
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