French savoir-faire and excellence has come to the forefront again in the design and making of the 2024 Paris Olympics Medals. Design by the Maison Chaumet (where Gustave Eiffel was a client) and produced by the Paris Mint they carry lots of detail and symbolism. The cherry on the proverbial cake is a hexagonal (of course) piece of the Eiffel Tower embedded in each medal. This piece of Paris authenticity makes the medals truly unique.

In keeping with its desire to strengthen the links between sport, culture and heritage, Paris 2024 has called on the expertise of French jeweller Chaumet. Founded in 1780, the LVMH group company, Premium Partner of Paris 2024. Renowned worldwide for its expertise, elegance and embodiment of French crafsmanship, Chaumet is bringing the medal into the world of high jewellery with a design based on three inspirations: the hexagon, radiance and the setting. Read more about the Chaumet Family of jewellers as well as several other entrepreneurial French families.

For the first time in the history of the Games, each Olympic and Paralympic medal is adorned with a highly symbolic and priceless piece of metal: original iron from the Eiffel Tower. Erected to amaze the world at the 1889 Universal Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower is made entirely of a special type of iron known as “puddle” iron. Manufactured in the forges and blast furnaces of Pompey in Lorraine, the cast iron produced by reducing iron ore is refined by an operation called “puddling”. By removing the excess carbon still present in the cast iron, the resulting iron is almost pure and extremely strong. During the 20th century, the structure of the Eiffel Tower underwent renovation work. Certain metallic elements were removed, were carefully preserved and have now found their purpose.

On the medal, the original iron of the Eiffel Tower is cut into a hexagon, the geometric shape that evokes France to the point of being its nickname. The hexagon is held in place by claws, traditionally used by the House of Chaumet for its high jewellery creations. The claws are in the shape of “Clous de Paris” evoking the rivets on the Eifel Tower. The hexagonal piece of iron has been stripped of its “Eiffel Tower brown” paint and the puddle iron has been restored to its original colour. The hexagon is placed in the cenrre and embossed with the emblem of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The hexagon is surrounded with lines of radiance adding sparkle and dimension symbolizing the radiance of the athletes whose performances will sparkle in the eyes of the world.

Though the Olympic and Paralympic medals share a common face designed for the Olympic location the other side tell the unique stories of each Games. The Olympic medal presents the revival of the Games in Greece. The goddess of victory, Nike, is depicted in the foreground, emerging from the Panathenaic Stadium, where the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. The Acropolis is also shown along with the Eiffel Tower. The other side of the Paralympic medal fully illustrates creative choices made by Paris 2024 and Chaumet. A graphic representation of a low-angle view under the Eiffel Tower and the words “Paris” and “2024” written in universal Braille. A nod to French inventor, Louis Braille. To enable the three metals to be distinguished by touch, lines are engraved on the edge of the medal: I for gold, II for silver and III for bronze. The medal fronts also include the Olympic rings, the full names of the edition and the discipline or sport concerned.

The medals have their ecological, upcycled side too. The gold and silver medals are made from solid silver (with 6g of gold added to the gold medals). This silver is certifed 100% recycled by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). For the bronze used in the third-place medals, the copper alloy, tin and zinc come from reused scraps of metal that are a byproduct of other production processes of the Monnaie de Paris.

Even the ribbon is symbolic. The Dame de fer also inspired the ribbon design. For the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, the ribbons will be adorned with drawn crosssections of the Eifel Tower. The sober blue of the Olympic medal ribbon is contrasted by the deep red of the Paralympic medal ribbon, a blend of the Eifel Tower’s frst two colour coatings, “Venice red” and “red brown”.

And so that’s the story behind the 5084 medals which will be awarded.

Have you ever seen a real Olympic medal up close? Stop by the Monnaie de Paris and have a look at the exhibition

« D’OR, D’ARGENT ET DE BRONZE »

• Du 27 mars 2024 à 11h00 au 22 septembre 2024 à 18h00
• Musée de la Monnaie de Paris, Hôtel de la Monnaie, 11 Quai de Conti, 75006 Paris, France
• Payant : L’exposition sera intégrée au parcours du musée de la Monnaie de Paris dont le tarif plein est de 12€ , tarif réduit: 8€, gratuité pour les moins de 26 ans et le premier dimanche du mois. L’offre sera intégrée au Pass Culture.