In the midst of the competitions, the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics find themselves facing an unexpected event that risks overshadowing the moment most awaited by the athletes: the awards ceremony. Several medals came loose from the cord around their necks, ending up on the ground during the celebrations or in the hours following their delivery.
Cases reported by athletes
Among the first to report the incident was the American Breezy Johnson, gold in the women’s downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo. “I was jumping with emotion and it broke. I’m sure someone will fix it, it’s not exactly destroyed,” the skier told TNT Sports, showing the medal she had to put in her pocket to avoid losing it.
View this post on Instagram
This was not an isolated incident, as shown by the various videos circulating on social media:
@frigouscigous I just got this olympic gold medal, already broke it
♬ Black Beatles – car.archives.music
The Italian Lucia Dalmasso, bronze in the parallel giant slalom, said: “I fixed it, but then it fell again.” Similar problems were reported by the Swedish cross-country skier Ebba Andersson (silver in the cross country), the American figure skater Alysa Liu (team gold) and the German biathlete Justus Strelow (bronze in the mixed relay), who wrote on social media: “What’s happening with these medals?”.
The response of the Milano Cortina Foundation
During the daily press conference at the Main Media Center in Milan, Andrea Francisi, Chief Games Operations Officer of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, confirmed that he was aware of the situation. “We have seen that some medals have broken, we have seen the images and we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem. We are paying great attention to the issue given that the medal is the triumph and the dream of every athlete”, Francisi explained to journalists.
The next day, Foundation spokesperson Luca Casassa provided updates during the Daily Media Briefing. According to what was reported by ANSA, the Organizing Committee “immediately investigated the issue, working in close coordination with the State Mint, responsible for the production of the medals. A solution was identified and a targeted intervention was implemented. Athletes whose medals were affected are invited to return them through the appropriate channels, so that they can be promptly repaired and returned”.
The technical problem and the precedents
The defect concerns the attachment system between the medal and the cord. According to what emerged from the analyses, the problem does not involve the metal of the medal but the anti-choking mechanism of the lanyard, required by international safety standards and designed to release in the event of excessive traction. In some cases, the system was also activated during normal celebrations.
The episode recalls what happened at the Paris 2024 Olympics, when hundreds of medals were withdrawn and replaced due to oxidation and deterioration problems. In that case it involved much more serious defects linked to the paintwork and the materials used. In Milan Cortina, however, the problem appears to be limited to the fixing system.
The Foundation confirmed its commitment to ensuring that the medals “meet the highest quality standards”, ensuring that all damaged medals will be repaired and returned to their rightful owners.
