In the live coverage, a close-up shot of the medal showed Lemley and several other people celebrating as they tried to stick the ribbon back into the medal clasp.
WASHINGTON — Another American Olympian’s medal quickly broke after they won it Wednesday, highlighting a problem Olympic organizers have vowed to make right at the Milan Cortina Games.
Elizabeth Lemley, who took home gold for Team USA in the women’s moguls final, was still celebrating on the podium when the ribbon holding her gold medal around her neck snapped.
In the live coverage, a close-up shot of the medal showed Lemley and several of the people celebrating around her trying to stick the ribbon back into a clasp hidden inside the medal, to no avail.
Despite that, Lemley still celebrated with her team, coaches and family, hoisting the golden disk above her head along with a plushie of the Olympic mascot, Milo.
But the issue was quickly fixed. During the post-event press conference, Lemley showed off her recently repaired gold medal.
It didn’t appear that Jaelin Kauf, who took silver for the U.S., had similar problems with her medal.
Don’t jump for joy after winning gold
Lemley isn’t the only athlete to report issues with medals falling off their ribbons at the 2026 Games.
Team USA gold medalist Breezy Johnson’s medal broke as she jumped up and down in excitement after winning the downhill skiing event.
“Don’t jump in (the medal),” Johnson joked to reporters after becoming only the second American woman ever to win the Olympic downhill. “I was jumping in excitement, and it broke. I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken.”
Team USA figure skater Alysa Liu also posted a video on her Instagram of her gold medal from the team event detached from the ribbon.
Medals repaired quickly after investigation
A day after launching an investigation, Olympics spokesperson Luca Cassasa said a fix has been put in place.
“Following reports of issues affecting a small number of medals, the organizing committee immediately reviewed the matter, working closely with the State Mint, which produced the medals,” Cassasa said at the Games’ daily briefing on Tuesday. ” Athletes whose medals have been affected are encouraged to return them through the appropriate channels so that they can be promptly repaired and returned.”
Johnson said said she has already received a replacement medal by Tuesday’s combined team event, but said she had to return the broken one in exchange.
“They don’t, like, let you have multiple of those things,” she said with a laugh.
Liu was spotted sporting a new medal, this time attached to the ribbon, during an interview with NBC on Monday. She said she also had to turn in the old medal for the new one.
This is the second Games in a row where medal issues have plagued winning athletes.
Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.
Are gold medals made of real gold?
The simple answer is yes… and no.
They were once solid gold from 1904 through 1912, but are now primarily made of pure silver and plated in gold. The IOC requires gold and silver medals to be made with a minimum of 92.5% pure silver. The gold metals are plated with 6 grams of gold atop the pure silver, giving them their color. All in all, a gold and silver medal weighs just over a pound.
The Milan Cortina Olympic medals are made with 99.9% pure silver and 99.9% pure gold, according to the official Olympics page.
The brief history of medals being solid gold is one of the few reasons athletes may be seen biting into their medals after winning them.
Gold medals aren’t solid gold anymore and silver medals are at least mostly pure silver… What about bronze medals?
This Winter Olympics, they’re made up of 420 grams of copper. In years past, the bronze metal was made with a mix of copper, tin and other metals.
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