Tony Estanguet at the LVMH office to view the medals ©Thomas Deschamps
Olympic medals to be set with metal
from the Eiffel Tower
by Philip Barker
Medals at Paris 2024 will each contain a small piece of original metal from the Eiffel Tower as part of their medals.
“We wanted these medals to be truly unique, to bear the Paris 2024 signature. To achieve this, we married the strongest symbol of the Games, the medal, with the ultimate symbol of Paris and France around the world, the Eiffel Tower,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet.
They were designed by craftsmen at Parisian jewellers Chaumet, now part of the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton(LVMH) Group.
Medals are much more than just objects, they are a symbol of excellence, a source of motivation,
of surpassing oneself and of ultimate achievement,” Estanguet added.
Each medal has a diameter of 85 millimetres and will be 9.2 mm thick.
Each will have an Eiffel Tower insert of 18 grams in the shape of a hexagon.
The metal had been preserved when the Tower underwent renovations in the last century.
“With this unique metal from the Eiffel Tower, this medal has a historic character” insisted Jean-François Martins, President of the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel.
“Paris 2024 is giving continuity to Gustave Eiffel’s audacity,” said a Paris 2024 statement.
The medals were created in consultation with members of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission led by Martin Fourcade and included Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
“There were three major inspirations behind this: the hexagon, the influence of France, and we also wanted the medal to be like a jewel – and that’s why it is set exactly like a precious stone,” insisted Fourcade.
Some 5084 medals will be produced for the Olympics and Paralympics and are to be made at the Hôtel de la Monnaie (French Mint) on the Left Bank of the Seine.
The ribbons will also incorporate an Eiffel Tower motif.
It will be decorated with a design depicting the cross pieces of the Eiffel Tower.
The Olympic ribbons will be blue and the Paralympic medal is deep red.
This is a blend of the Eiffel Tower’s first two colour coatings, “Venice red” and “red brown.”
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