Woo! Snap! Clang!

That’s the sound of an Olympic medal detaching from its ribbon and plummeting to the floor as its proud new owner jumps in celebration, and it has become an unwelcome addition to the Milan-Cortina Games amid the cheers and national anthems. Multiple athletes have shared stories of their medals breaking off their ribbons shortly after receiving them — sometimes mid-celebration.

“We are going to pay particular attention to the medals, and obviously this is something we want to be perfect when the medal is handed over because this is one of the most important moments for the athletes,” Andrea Francisi, the chief games operation officer for these Olympics, said at a news conference Monday.

From social media footage and athletes’ comments, it seems that jumping for joy may be at least partly behind the medal malfunctions.

Breezy Johnson, the American Alpine ski racer who won gold in the women’s downhill on Sunday, told reporters that her medal fell off the ribbon while she was hopping up and down while celebrating her win.

“Don’t jump in them,” she said. “I was jumping in excitement and it broke.”

The damage wasn’t too bad, she added: “It’s not, like, crazy broken. But, a little broken.”

Alysa Liu, the American figure skater, had the same issue. In a video on Instagram, she holds up the ribbon in one hand and her — detached — gold medal in the other. “My medal don’t need the ribbon,” she wrote.

It is not the first time in recent years that there has been trouble with medals at the Games. Months after the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024, more than 100 athletes asked for their crumbling medals to be replaced, with many of them showing their flaking medals on social media.

But what exactly is going on with the medals in Italy remains a mystery. In the meantime, it may be worth holding onto the medals while jumping for joy.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Claire Moses/James Hill
c. 2026 The New York Times Company