The 2024 Olympic Games will take place in Paris this summer from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Athletes from around the world will try to win the highest reward: the gold medal.
But is this Olympic medal really gold?
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Paris 2024 Olympic Games
For all athletes, winning the Olympic gold medal is like finding the Holy Grail. Standing on the top step of the podium is the culmination of a dream, the ultimate reward for a life of training and sacrifice. What we don’t know is that the gold medal… is actually not really gold.
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Paris 2024 Olympic Games: discover the Olympic and Paralympic medals, set with a fragment of the Eiffel Tower
Gold or not gold?
In ancient times, athletes received an olive wreath – the sacred tree of Greece – to salute their exploits. From the end of the 19th century, athletes received silver, copper or bronze medals. It was during the Olympic Games in Saint-Louis in 1904 that gold medals were introduced and during this Olympics, they were made of solid gold. However, they were gradually replaced by vermeil, because gold was far too expensive. Today, according to the French Gold House, “the games’ highest award, the winners’ medal, contains approximately six grams of gold plated on pure silver“. This is in fact the rule laid down by the International Olympic Committee. Pure gold is applied to the medal, made of pure silver.
Each host country has its medal
If Olympic medals are always made from precious metals and primarily acquired through recycling, each host country has the possibility of choosing the engraved symbols, templates and design of the medals. In the past, for example, we have seen medals made of… jade! For the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Olympic and Paralympic medals designed in collaboration with Chaumet are accompanied by an original piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower. They were designed around three inspirations: the hexagon, the radiance and the setting. A way of associating the heritage of the capital and of France with the sporting event. For Tony Estanguet, “the Paris 2024 medals have been imagined as real jewels: on both sides, they will show the most beautiful face of France“.
Furthermore, if the medals change according to the country and the seasons, there are elements which must absolutely appear on all Olympic medals under the rules laid down by the International Olympic Committee, namely the official name of the Games, the symbol of the five Olympic rings, and Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
