Olympics star forced to give back gold medal with immediate effect
Viral American figure skating star Alysa Liu was made to return one of the two gold medals she won at the Winter Olympic Games this year.
After two weeks of excitement and drama, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games officially ended following the closing ceremony in Verona, Italy, on 22 February.
Team GB left Italy with a total of five medals, including three golds, with the likes of Skeleton gold medallist Matt Weston and Curling star Bruce Mouat becoming household names during the Olympics.
Of course, it wasn't just British athletes that saw a massive rise of popularity thanks to their performances at the Winter Olympics, as US figure skater Liu made headlines for her unique performances.
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Liu claimed two gold medals in Italy, but it's now been revealed that she quickly had to return one of them after it broke and required a replacement.
Thanks to her impressive performances in Cortina, Liu became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic figure skating gold medal in 24 years, finishing ahead of Japan's Kaori Sakamoto by just 2.43 points.
Earlier in the Olympics, she secured victory in the Team Event, taking her gold medal tally to two at just 20 years old.
However, as she celebrated winning the first of her two wins, her medal suddenly became detached from its ribbon, causing it to become badly damaged.
"I was just jumping up and down, as one does to celebrate, and it just dropped," Liu revealed.
"It just literally fell off of the ribbon. It got very scratched up... pretty dented.
The American star, who has become hugely popular due to her unique style and appearance, admitted that she actually preferred the medal as it was, but Olympic rules forced her to hand it back in.
She added:"I actually liked it when it was off the ribbon, but that's not allowed. I had to give it in. I was like, 'Can't you just fix this one?' I'm attached. But it's OK, I'm detached. Just like it was."
The 20-year-old isn't the only one to have problems with her medal, with fellow Team USA athletes Breezy also Johnson also reported her medals snapping off their ribbons shortly after the presentation.
Medals breaking is of course not a great look for the Olympics, with chief Games operations officer Andrea Francisi later speaking out to express their concerns about the matter.
He said: “We are fully aware of the situation and you have seen the pictures. We are looking into what exactly the problem is. We will pay maximum attention to the medals so that everything will be perfect because this is one of the most important things for the athletes.”
During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, several athletes reported the same issue, with 220 requests to replace medals because of damage received by February 2025.
Ben McCrum