The medals at the next Olympic Winter Games may offer more than glory. For athletes such as Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and others, they could also bring a headache. The latest announcement from the Milano Cortina 2026 organizing committee has stirred curiosity. And concern. Because these are not typical medals, nor is the decision behind them free of controversy.
Italy is set to host the split Games for the first time in Olympic history. Milano and Cortina will serve as dual sites, and the design of the medals reflects that partnership. According to organizers, each medal consists of two pieces joined at the center, crafted to represent the union of the cities. Produced by the Italian state mint, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, the medals are undeniably polished in concept. The surfaces display contrasting finishes, a deliberate nod to diversity and unity. But it is what coats the medals that may prove problematic once again.
These medals, much like those from the 2024 Paris Games, are finished using a recyclable, eco-conscious protective layer. Organizers emphasize its non-toxic composition and renewable production process. Yet history is not on their side. At Paris, the very same approach to sustainability left a long list of athletes dismayed. Reports surfaced only months after the Games that several medals were already flaking, dulling, or worse. Corroding. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, a French swimmer and bronze medalist, publicly described his damaged medal as having taken on the texture of “crocodile skin.” British diver Yasmin Harper noticed blemishes on hers. Skateboarder Nyjah Huston lamented the loss of shine on his bronze. The photos told the rest of the story. Discolored, scratched, and faded medals were barely a season after the closing ceremony.
The risk is not hypothetical. Should these issues recur, icons such as Shiffrin and Vonn could find themselves navigating a tedious replacement process, which some Paris medalists were ultimately forced to request. The medals are more than metal. They are objects of identity, earned in singular moments that cannot be replicated. The potential of seeing them degrade due to a production choice, however well-intentioned, cannot be overlooked.
Of course, the push toward environmental responsibility carries merit. The energy used in manufacturing the 2026 medals is drawn entirely from renewable sources, a point the organizing committee has highlighted with pride. Yet sustainability must coexist with permanence. Olympic medals are not meant to biodegrade. They are meant to endure. In drawers, on mantels, in museums. If the coating applied in the name of progress leads once again to decay, then the Games risk repeating a mistake that casts a shadow over the very symbols meant to represent excellence. However, with a significant outcry, the IOC promptly admitted their mistake back in Paris.
Paris 2024 Olympic medals flawed, over 100 returned due to damage
An announcement long withheld has now emerged, quiet but unmistakable. In January 2025, the International Olympic Committee formally acknowledged what had already become an open secret in sporting circles: the medals awarded during the Paris 2024 Olympics were flawed. More than one hundred had been returned by athletes in the months that followed the Closing Ceremony, prompting persistent inquiry and, finally, reluctant admission. The issue was not symbolic, nor was it cosmetic. The medals themselves, supposedly sealed to endure as heirlooms, had failed their most basic function.
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The French Mint, responsible for crafting the hardware of Olympic triumph, stated with bureaucratic precision that “The Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August and has mobilized its internal teams.” While the admission of fault came months after the initial complaints, it now arrives with the promise of full replacement. According to their plan, all returned medals will be substituted by the end of the first quarter of 2025. The IOC noted that a system has been put in place through which national Olympic committees will coordinate exchanges. Each new medal, they stressed, will be identical in appearance to the original, preserving the intent if not the object.
What remains unanswered, however, is how such deterioration occurred at all. These were not mass-produced trophies from a commercial event. These were Olympic medals, stamped with iron fragments sourced from the Eiffel Tower itself, and produced in a country that prides itself on technical artistry. Of the 5,084 medals manufactured, over a hundred have already succumbed to the same defect. The varnish may be replaced. The oversight, however, cannot be erased.
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