Key Highlights
- Athletes at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan reported faulty medals with issues like breaking and detaching ribbons.
- Olympic organizing committee identified a solution but encouraged athletes to return their medals for repair as a precaution.
- The design flaw or manufacturing glitch is suspected to be due to the clip securing the medal and ribbon being too loose, causing detachment.
- Despite the problems, Olympic gold and silver medals are worth more than ever before, driven by soaring metal prices.
The Olympic Medal Crisis: Broken Ribbons and Worrying Designs
It’s been a bumpy ride for athletes at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan. The excitement of winning a medal has been marred by some serious issues, with reports of defective medals breaking or detaching from their ribbons.
Take Breezy Johnson, the American skier who won her gold medal and found it detaching from its ribbon. “I was jumping in excitement and it broke,” she said, warning other athletes to be careful.
Acknowledgment and Solutions
The organizing committee is aware of the issues and has a solution identified. Luca Casassa, the spokesperson for the Olympic organizing committee, stated, “As a precaution, we are re-checking all the medals to make sure that the athletes’ joy can be really 360 degrees when they conquer something which is so precious and so important.”
Still, the uncertainty has raised eyebrows. The exact nature of the problem remains unclear, but Doug McIndoe, editor of The MCA Advisory, a magazine from the Medal Collectors of America, speculates that it could be due to manufacturing issues or design flaws.
The Design Flaw and its Ramifications
McIndoe explained that the medals are designed with two halves coming together to symbolize how each victory is the result of individual effort and team support. However, the clip meant to secure the medal and ribbon is apparently not holding firmly enough. “It’s possible that the opening where that clip goes in is maybe slightly too big,” he said.
Meanwhile, some athletes are facing more severe issues. Ebba Andersson, a Swedish cross-country skier, reported her silver breaking in two when it fell into snow. The issue isn’t limited to just one metal; several athletes have noted similar problems with their gold and silver medals detaching or breaking.
The Economic Value of Olympic Medals
Despite the issues, there’s good news for collectors: the value of these medals has never been higher. According to precious metals expert Peter Krauth, this year’s gold medal is worth around $2,300, twice its value during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Silver medals are now worth nearly three times their previous value.
The soaring prices of these metals have driven up the cost of the medals, with each gold medal containing only about six grams of actual gold over a 500-gram silver base.
This means that while the metal content is not as impressive as it might seem, the sentimental value of an Olympic medal remains irreplaceable.
“The real worth of these medals comes from the athletic achievement behind them,” Krauth said. “The sentimental value is way more than the actual metal in the medal.”
This year’s Olympics have seen more than just athletes competing; they’re also testing the resilience and adaptability of the organizers as they navigate through unexpected challenges. Whether these issues will be resolved before the games conclude remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the value of an Olympic medal goes beyond mere metal.
