Medal winners at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris will return with a piece of the Eiffel Tower.
Organizers unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals at the memorial on Thursday, saying each will be “adorned with a small piece of Paris and a symbol of the state of France.”
Gold medal for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: Reuters
Gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Photo: Reuters
The decision came from the desire to make the winners' medals on the podium “unique” and link the Games with the symbols of France.
“A great effort has been made to try to combine these precious metals – gold, silver and bronze – with the most expensive metal in the Eiffel Tower, the French crown jewel,” said Tony Estanje, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee. A committee.
Designed by Paris jeweler Chaumet, the 18-gram central hexagonal token coins are made of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower during previous renovations and then stored for years in a secret location.
They are said to represent France. The French sometimes refer to their country as “L'Hexagone” because of its shape.
The sections are located in the center of the gold, silver and bronze medals, surrounded by grooves that evoke rays of light radiating outward – inspired by a crown design in the Chaumet archives.
Six small clasps holding the medallions' iron pieces are a wink to the 2.5 million rivets that hold the Eiffel Tower together.
Tony Estanje, President of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee (right) with French athletes (LR) Arnaud Assoumani, Sarah Balzer and Marie Patoyer, unveil the medals at the Eiffel Tower. Photo: AP
The five Olympic rings are also stamped on the medals of the Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
The logo of the three Paralympics, known as Agitos, is stamped on the medals of the Paralympics, which are held from August 28 to September 8.
The back of the medals features the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, as she has at every Games since 1928 – with the Acropolis on one side and the Eiffel Tower on the other.
The Paralympic medals feature a view of the Eiffel Tower from below, and are stamped with Paris 2024 in Braille in honor of the Frenchman who invented the touch-reading system used globally by blind and visually impaired people.
The ancient Greek goddess of victory, Nike, appears on the back of Olympic medals. Photo: AP
The 5,084 medals were produced by the French Mint Monnaie de Paris.
The gold medals weigh 529 grams and are not pure gold, but are made of silver and plated with 6 grams of gold. The silver medals weigh 525 grams and the bronze 455 grams, and are made of copper, tin and zinc alloy.
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The medals are 85mm wide and 9.2mm thick.
It will come in a dark blue box from Chaumet and a certificate from the Eiffel Tower operating company stating which pieces of iron came from the monument.
