Written by Redazione. Posted in Ceremonial and Protocol, commemorativesportring, event, jewelry, olympic games, paraolimpiadi, trofei, trofei.
Gold, silver, bronze and … metal from the French capital’s most iconic monument. For the first time in history, in fact, the medals of the Paris ’24 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be embellished with an element from a famous monument: the original iron used in the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Thus each medalist, in addition to glory, will also take home a little bit of France and its history.
Built as a temporary attraction for the 1889 Universal Exposition, the Eiffel Tower has been the undisputed symbol of Paris for more than 130 years. Over time, it has undergone various upgrades, from the installation of elevators to structural works. And as a result of these maintenances, some metal elements have been permanently removed and carefully preserved by the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel. By embedding a fragment of these pieces inside each medal, Paris 2024 wants to leave athletes with an indelible memory of the Games, the capital city and the entire country.
As for the medals, no detail has been left to chance. Designed by Maison Chaumet (a historic Parisian jewelry store known worldwide for its stunning creations), they will be made by the Monnaie de Paris (the French institution responsible for national coinage). On the medal, the original iron fragment of the Eiffel Tower (left in its original color) has been carved in the shape of a hexagon, the geometric shape that resembles the geographical contour of France to the point of becoming one of its nicknames (L’Hexagone).
The insert, placed in the center and embossed with the coat of arms of the Paris 2024 Games, is secured by 6 fasteners reminiscent of the rivets that hold the Dame de Fer together. On the same side, thin lines project around the hexagon at irregular intervals. Carved rather than engraved, these rays give relief and luster to the medal.
Olympic and Paralympic medals have the same design on the front but different on the back. In the Olympics there is the goddess of victory Nike, depicted in the foreground in front of the Panathinaiko Stadium (where the Olympic Games were first resumed in 1896), the Acropolis in Athens, and the Eiffel Tower. At the Paralympics, on the other hand, there is a beautiful graphic representation of the Eiffel Tower seen from the bottom up with the name of the edition written in Braille. Another difference between the Olympic and Paralympic medals is the ribbon attached to them: blue with the five circles for the former, red with the three agitos (symbol of the Paralympics) for the latter. Finally, the name of the sport, discipline and event are engraved on the edge of the medals: in French on the Olympic medals and in English on the Paralympic ones, the official languages of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) , respectively.
Source: www.parigi.it
