Paris Olympics medals feature the Eiffel Tower’s iron

The medals for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris have been unveiled, and their peculiarity is that they feature a hexagonal shiny element in the center, produced using iron from none other than the Eiffel Tower, weighing 18 grams. The iron used for the medals is part of the excess iron that was removed from the monument and preserved following some renovation work. The design of the medals was handled by the famous jeweler Chaumet, located in the center of Paris and part of the French group LVMH, a world leader in the luxury sector.

In total, 5,084 medals were produced. The gold one weighs 529 grams, the silver one 525 grams, and the bronze one 455 grams. While the front of the medals is the same for everyone, the reverse of those for Olympic athletes shows the Greek goddess Nike in the foreground at the center of an Olympic stadium, with the Acropolis of Athens and the Eiffel Tower in the background; whereas the reverse of the Paralympic athlete medal depicts the Eiffel Tower seen from below with “Paris” and “2024” written on the sides in Braille.