While unveiling the design of the medals for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games on Feb. 8, the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee announced that each medalist will receive a piece of original iron from the iconic symbol of Paris and France, the Eiffel Tower, placed at the heart of their medal. The Eiffel Tower’s elevators were modernized in 2008, and several pieces of iron from the monument were removed on that occasion and stored by Parisian authorities. These pieces have been melted down to be embedded in the medals.

To create the medals’ design, Paris 2024 called on its Athletes’ Commission, chaired by former biathlete and five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade, and the expertise of French luxury jewelry house Chaumet, premium partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Chaumet, headquartered in Paris’s exclusive Place Vendôme, is part of French luxury conglomerate LVMH.

The medals are characterized by a circular arrangement of ridges around the outside, which evokes rays of light, and a hexagon in the center, to recall the outline of mainland France. The hexagon is completely made of iron from the Eiffel Tower. The reverse side of the medals features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, flanked by the Acropolis on the left and the Eiffel Tower on the right.

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