Is it an antique? French swimmer Clement Sechi revealed on social media the status of the bronze medal he won in the medley relay at the Paris Olympics. The photo on the right shows American figure skater Alyssa Riou showing the gold medal separated from the ribbon on her social media. Seki and Rio SNS
At the 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, the ceremony of holding a broken medal in both hands is popular.
Breezy Johnson of the United States, the women’s alpine skiing gold medalist in the downhill, held up the medal and the separate ribbon after the awards ceremony on the 8th. Johnson garnered attention for his vain expression, saying, “I jumped up and down for joy, but then suddenly fell down.” After winning the gold medal in the team event, U.S. figure skating women’s singles Alyssa Liu also introduced the gold medal separated from the ribbon on her social media, saying, “I don’t need a ribbon for my medal.”
Swedish cross-country skiing silver medalist Eva Andersson expressed her dissatisfaction with the absurdity, saying, “The medal fell on the snow and broke. I hope the organizing committee has a plan for the broken medal.” German biathlete Justus Strello was celebrating winning a bronze medal in the mixed relay when his medal detached from the ribbon. The medal that fell on the floor cracked due to the impact.
This Olympics focuses on being ‘eco-friendly’ by recycling metals recovered from waste. This is pointed out as the cause of the medal’s lack of durability. The number of athletes handling their medals with care has increased.
Kim Sang-gyeom, the silver medalist in the snowboarding parallel giant slalom who brought Korea the first medal, held up the medal upon returning to Korea on the 10th and said, “It’s heavier than I thought.” This medal, created by the Italian Mint and Printing Bureau, is lighter than previous years. This gold medal is 506g. It is lighter than the heaviest events, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (556g) or the 2024 Paris Olympics (529g).
American figure skater Alyssa Liu shows her gold medal separated from the ribbon on her social media. Rio SNS
In fact, the issue of ‘bad medals’ is a regular feature that appears in every Olympic Games in the past. Medals peeling, discoloring, or breaking occurred at every competition. Most of them appeared only towards the end of the competition, but this time, the topic grew as defective medals appeared one after another from the beginning of the competition.
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, about 120 medals were criticized for having their paint peeling and rusting. At the Tokyo Olympics, there were more than 100 cases where medal coatings were peeling off and discoloring easily, requesting exchange. The issue of the silver medal was particularly serious. It lost its luster and turned black, causing dissatisfaction from the medalists.
Paris 2024 Olympic medals were notorious for visible wear and tear. French swimmer Clement Seki complained that his bronze medal in the medley relay cracked like a crocodile’s skin.
The Paris Mint, which produced the Paris Olympic medals, received requests to exchange more than 200 medals even a year after the Games ended.
It appears that there will be a line of athletes wanting to replace their medals at this Olympics until the end of the competition. The organizing committee responded that they had found a problem with the medal and said, “If athletes who have a problem with their medal return it through the appropriate channel, we will immediately repair it.”
date: 2026-02-11 14:06:00