2026 Winter Olympics committee looking into medals breaking and “taking the issue seriously”
Milan — The 2026 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee told CBS News it was “aware of an issue affecting a small number of medals and is investigating the matter,” after some athletes who won medals in the games reported they had broken.
“Don’t jump in them,” Breezy Johnson, who won the gold medal in downhill skiing for Team USA on Sunday, told reporters after her race.
“I was jumping in excitement and it broke. I’m sure somebody will fix it — it’s not like crazy broken — but it’s a little broken,” Johnson said.
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U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu, who won gold with her team Sunday night, posted a video on social media showing her medal also having broken off the ribbon.
“My medal don’t need the ribbon,” she wrote.
In an interview with CBS News on Monday, figure skater Danny O’Shea, making his Olympics debut at the Milano-Cortina Games, said he was being cautious with the gold medal he won with his team on Sunday.
“We’re just trying not to do too much of the jumping around ourselves,” O’Shea said.
His teammate Ellie Kam told CBS News that her gold medal was, “definitely like a heavy weight to carry, but I slept with mine under my pillow, so that’s how I’m keeping mine safe.”
German biathlete Justus Strelow was captured on camera shortly after his bronze win, picking his broken medal up off the ground and trying to reattach it to its ribbon.
The video shows Strelow’s teammates dancing in celebration, and while he’s off camera, his medal can be heard clattering to the floor. When the camera pans to him, he tries to put his medal back together before giving up and resuming dancing.
Swedish local media reported that the country’s cross-country skier Ebba Andersson’s silver medal also came apart.
“The medal fell in the snow and broke in two,” Andersson was quoted as saying, according to Reuters. “Now I hope the organizers have a ‘Plan B’ for broken medals.”
The Winter Olympics Organizing Committee told CBS News it was “taking the issue seriously, fully recognizing the significance these medals hold for the athletes.”
