Olympics officials are investigating why medals keep breaking at the 2026 Winter Games after a number of athletes complained about the problem.
Winners may want to reconsider the tradition of biting their metal prizes, which appear to be surprisingly brittle. Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson said her medal “fell in the snow and broke in two”, while the American downhill skiing champion Breezy Johnson showed her cracked medal to reporters. “I was jumping up and down in excitement, then it just fell off,” she said.
The medals at Milan-Cortina in northern Italy have a clean-cut design and represent “discs of ice” made of two halves that join through the Olympic and Paralympic symbols in the middle. The halves represent the individual athlete and network behind their success, made up of family, team and coaches. They also have two different textures, one frosted and one polished.
Johnson’s experience and several similar incidents have sparked suspicions that the problem could be related to the medal’s ribbon. The ribbon is fitted with a breakaway mechanism that may be causing damage to the medal itself when athletes are celebrating.
German biathlete Justus Strelow had a similar issue when his bronze medal cracked on the floor during a party at their team base. And American figure skater Alysa Liu had her medal replaced after it came away from the ribbon and dented on the floor during celebrations.
Liu’s roommate, fellow gold medallist Ellie Kam, suggested the medal may be “a little too heavy for the ribbon”. The gold medals weigh about 500 grams (1.1 pounds) – as much as the silver medals – and contain 6 grams of gold. The bronze medals are slightly lighter at 420 grams.
The cold weather may also be a contributing factor, making the metal coating brittle and more likely to chip.
The chief Games operations officer at Milan-Cortina 2026, Andrea Francisi, said: “We are fully aware of the situation and you have seen the pictures. We are looking into what exactly the problem is. We will pay maximum attention to the medals so that everything will be perfect because this is one of the most important things for the athletes.”
Paris 2024 Olympic medal winners reported similar problems, although they related to tarnished appearances and discolouration rather than chips and cracks.
