The pinnacle of any Olympian’s career is when they stand on the top of the podium, the world staring back at them, and they are named the best at their craft in the world.
A gold medal.
Some kids train since they’re toddlers, for one. Others go into debt as adults to train to put it around their neck. Many athletes at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, sacrifice their entire social lives for a chance at winning one.
Americans Alysa Liu and Breezy Johnson both completed this dream in the first week of the Games, and they both celebrated like you’d expect any well-adjusted winner to do: jump up and down a lot.
Unfortunately, for two of the best athletes in the world, they did not anticipate that their excessive jumping would cause their gold medals to rip apart at the seams and fall to the ground.
In one of the odder stories so far in Milan, the Olympics faced scrutiny over the fabric used for their plethora of gold medals.
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For both Liu and Johnson, they were asked to trade their damaged medals in for new ones, replacing the physical awards they were given during one of the best moments of their lives.
Olympic committee spokesperson Luca Casassa spoke about the gold medal fiasco during a recent media briefing.
“Following reports of issues affecting a small number of medals, the organising committee immediately reviewed the matter, working closely with the State Mint, which produced the medals,” Casassa said. “A solution has been identified, and a targeted fix has been put in place.”
Liu attempted to protest the switch when asked to hand over her medal, stating she didn’t even need the ribbon, but was rebuffed. They took her team event figure skating medal and gave the reigning world champion a brand new, shiny one.
Hopefully, this one stays intact.