Paris Olympics 2024: Medals made of Eiffel Tower | Graphic Story

Paris Olympic medals contain ironwork from the Eiffel Tower, the first time any host city has incorporated pieces of a national monument.

An employee holds medals for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games after the finishing touches were added, in the workshops of La Monnaie de Paris, in Paris. | Photo Credit: AP

Winning an Olympic medal is every athlete’s dream. At the Paris Olympics, when athletes win medals, it is not just glory they take home; they also carry a piece of France’s pride, the Eiffel Tower.

Approximately 36,600 medals have been awarded since Athens 1896, the first modern Olympic Games. It is the first time any host city incorporated pieces of a national monument into the medals.

The medals embody the spirit of the Games, the heritage of France, and the pinnacle of athletic achievement. Discover what makes the Paris 2024 Olympic medals a true celebration of excellence.

Both Olympic and Paralympic medals carry a piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, which was recovered during a recent renovation. The iron is made according to France’s hexagonal shape. This is positioned at the centre of the medal and has the Paris 2024 Games’ symbol.

Each medal is engraved with the name of the sport, the discipline, and the event along its edge. These inscriptions are in French on the Olympic medals and in English on the Paralympic medals, the respective official languages of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The reverse side of the Olympic medal shows the story of the Games’ rebirth in Greece. It features the story designed by Elena Votsi for the Athens 2004 Olympics - the goddess of victory, Athena Nike emerging from the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the 1896 revival of the Olympic Games. It also shows the Acropolis of Athens, a mandatory feature on Olympic medals, joined for the first time by the Eiffel Tower in the Paris 2024 design.

The reverse side of the Paralympic medals features a graphic depiction of the Eiffel Tower from an upward perspective, offering a rarely seen angle of the iconic monument. Surrounding the base of the tower are the words “Paris” and “2024” in universal Braille, paying homage to the French inventor, Louis Braille.

As many as 5,084 medals have been produced for this year’s Olympics.