Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Olympics
Marcus Chan
Team USA star Breezy Johnson has revealed the state of her gold medal after clinching glory at the Winter Olympic Games.
On Sunday, Team USA's first gold medal of the Winter Olympic Games was won by Johnson, who won the women's downhill event in Cortina.
However, the event was marred by Lindsey Vonn's horrible crash, less than two weeks after she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her left knee.
The 41-year-old's right ski pole clipped an outside gate shortly before the first timing point.
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Eventually, she was airlifted to the hospital, and it has since been confirmed that Vonn was in a 'stable condition' and undergoing treatment.
The competition was halted for around 20 minutes before Johnson went on to win gold ahead of Germany's Emma Aicher and Sofia Goggia of Italy.
After clinching gold, Johnson said: "I sort of still can’t believe it yet, I don’t know when it will sink in yet."
However, just hours after the event, Johnson revealed that part of her gold medal had broken.
She said: "So there's the medal. And there's the ribbon. And here's the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal, and yeah, it came apart."
Johnson also stated that the medal is 'heavier' than she expected.
She added: "It's definitely heavy. Heavier than I expected. I think that's maybe why it broke."
Team USA teammate Keely Cashman then said: "I wasn't super surprised. I felt the weight of it, so I was like, `That better be a hefty string or whatever was holding it'."
In response, Andrea Francisi, Milan-Cortina 2026 chief games operations officer, issued a statement regarding this matter.
As per The Express, he said: "We are fully aware of the situation. We are looking into exactly what the problem is.
"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."