Medal winners on the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics will return with a bit of the Eiffel Tower.
Organisers unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals on the iconic monument on Thursday, saying every will “be adorned with a small piece of Paris and a symbol of the country of France”.
The determination got here from a need to make the medals for podium finishers “unique” and hyperlink the Games with symbols of France.
“There was a huge amount done to try to bring together these precious metals – gold, silver and bronze – with the most precious metal in the Eiffel Tower, the jewel in the French crown,” stated Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.
Designed by Paris jewelry home Chaumet, the 18g centrepiece hexagon tokens are product of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower throughout earlier refurbishments then saved for years at a secret location.
They are stated to characterize France. The French generally confer with their nation as “L’Hexagone” due to its form.
The fragments sit within the centre of the gold, silver and bronze medals, ringed with grooves evoking mild rays bursting outward – drawn from a tiara design in Chaumet’s archives.
Six small clasps that maintain the iron items within the medals are a wink on the 2.5 million rivets that bind the Eiffel Tower collectively.
The 5 Olympic rings are additionally stamped on the iron of the medals for the Olympic Games, which can happen from 26 July to 11 August.
The Paralympic brand of three swooshes, often known as the Agitos, is stamped on the medals for the Paralympics, which happen from 28 August till 8 September.
The again of the medals options the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, as she has accomplished at each Games since 1928 – with the Acropolis to at least one facet and the Eiffel Tower to the opposite.
Paralympics medals function a view of the Eiffel Tower from beneath, and are stamped with Paris 2024 in braille in homage to the Frenchman who invented the system of touch-reading which is universally utilized by people who find themselves blind and partially sighted.
The 5,084 medals have been produced by France’s mint, the Monnaie de Paris.
The gold medals weigh 529g and are usually not pure gold, however product of silver and plated with 6g of gold. The silver medals weigh 525g and the bronze ones 455g and are a copper, tin and zinc alloy.
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The medals measure 85mm throughout and are 9.2mm thick.
They will are available in a dark-blue field from Chaumet and a certificates from the Eiffel Tower Operating Co as an example the iron items got here from the monument.
Source: information.sky.com”