LONDON (Reuters) - A Brazilian judoka broke his bronze medal after taking it into the shower and dropping it hours after his victory in a third-place match, a team spokeswoman said on Monday.

Felipe Kitadai, who beat Italy's Elio Verde to win bronze in the -60kg category on Saturday, was so excited about the result that he did not want to be parted from his prize.

"He was taking a shower with the medal when he dropped it," the spokeswoman said. "He then slept with the medal and realized later that it was broken. It wasn't a very smart thing to do."

The medal was damaged at the top where the ribbon loops through a hoop.

After a few hasty phone calls and apologies, Olympic officials agreed to supply a replacement for the 23-year-old.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Ed Osmond)