WHERE MANY OLYMPIANS KEEP THEIR MEDALS

Olympic medals are among the most coveted prizes in sports. Athletes can spend decades in their pursuit, and only the greatest in the world succeed.

So it might be surprising to learn that after the sweat and tears, the triumph and glory, so many of these treasures tend to end up in the same unremarkable place: a sock drawer.

"My parents wanted me to get a safe for it, but that sounded ridiculous," said Alex Hall, 27, a slopestyle skier, who stores his hard-won gold medal from the 2022 Games beneath a pile of socks and thermal underwear. "It hasn't seen sunlight in a long time," added Mr. Hall, who now needs to find space for the silver medal he won last week.

Mikaela Shiffrin, one of the greatest Alpine skiers of all time and the owner of three Olympic medals, is a sock drawer person. So is Ryan Lochte, whose 12 medals make him the second most decorated male swimmer in the history of the Games. The IKEA dresser drawer where Christopher Mazdzer keeps his 2018 silver medal holds not only assorted hosiery but also other important possessions like belts and ties.

Olympians claiming medals in Italy this week can hardly imagine letting them out of their sight. Danny O'Shea, an American figure skater, laughed when asked where he would keep the gold he won on Sunday in the team event.

"Around my neck for as long as possible," he said.

But as time passes, this attachment can mellow into something resembling nonchalance.

"Every Olympian's childhood dream was standing up there and getting a medal hung around their necks," said Chris Fogt, who won a silver medal in bobsledding at the 2014 Games. "But after you get it, and you get a little older, it's almost like the journey was more important."

If an Olympian's shimmering laurel is not tucked among socks, it might rest inside a desk or among assorted junk. Valerie Fleming, a former bobsledder, keeps her silver medal from 2006 in a drawer in her kitchen, or in her night stand. Mr. Fogt is a night stand user, too.

Explanations for these unglamorous storage solutions include accessibility, laziness and basic modesty. Many Olympians have neither the desire nor the means to set up the sorts of trophy rooms or shrines to themselves often seen in the homes of richer, more famous professional athletes.

"I'm just not like a showy, flashy type of person," said Matt Antoine, a skeleton racer who has squirreled away his bronze medal from the 2014 Olympics in a sock drawer in his closet.

His medal does have a custom pouch, made by his mother, which represents an upgrade from its previous encasement: an actual sock.

In that, he was not alone. Others who keep medals inside socks include Oksana Masters, a Paralympian with 19 medals, and Jack Wallace, a two-time gold medalist in Paralympic hockey.

To read the complete article, see:
You'd Be Surprised to See Where Many Olympians Keep Their Medals (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/world/europe/olympic-medals-sock-drawers.html)

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