The marquee sporting event that everyone is looking out for - the Paris Olympic Games 2024 and now, the medals that will be awarded to the athletes and the para-athletes were revealed on Thursday, February 8 at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee. (More Sports News)
What's more - each medal will contain a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower in the centre of it. Joachim Roncin, the head of design said of the concept, "The concept came after a few discussions. We realised that there's one symbol known across the world, which is the Eiffel Tower.
"We said to ourselves: 'Hey, what if we approached the Eiffel Tower Operating Co to see if it's possible to get a bit of the Eiffel Tower to integrate into the medal?'"
The medals are designed by Chaumet, the first jewellers who created the Olympic medals. These medals will be manufactured at the Hotel de la Monnaie that also minted the medals back in the 1924 Olympics.
That pretty much makes these Olympic medals special! Unlike the approximate 36,000 medals that have been awarded since the Athens Olympic Games in 1896, the current lot will bear a small piece of Paris and the symbol of the country of France - the Eiffel Tower.
Stats Behind In Making the Medals -
5,084 medals produced
85mm in diameter
9.2mm thick
18g of iron from the Eiffel Tower
529g: the weight of the gold medal
525g: the weight of the silver medal
455g: the weight of the bronze medal
The Olympic and Paralympic medals will be engraved with the name of the sport, the discipline and also the event. The Olympic medals will be written in French whereas the Paralympic medals will be written in English.
The 33rd Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August, while the Paralympics, the 17th edition since it began in 1960, will be held from August 27 to September 8, 2024.
