“We imagined being under the Eiffel Tower and reaching that grail”
There are differences between Olympic and Paralympic medals.
In the case of the Paralympic medal, braille has been added to the sides. Furthermore, both sides can be designed and imagined by the Organizing Committee, unlike the Olympic medal, whose reverse design has been set by the IOC since 2004.
In fact, for 20 years, the goddess Nike appears on the front of the Olympic medals emerging from the Panathenaic State, a symbol of the Ancient Olympic Games.
Imagined as authentic pieces of jewelry, Paris 2024 collaborated with jewelry Maison Chaumet.
“(For the design) We imagined being under the Eiffel Tower and reaching that grail. That was our idea,” exclaimed its workshop leader, Benoit Verhulleto Olympics.com.
For the hexagonal motif present on the medal, the Maison Chaumet took inspiration from its archives.
“We reflected on our archives, on what Maison Chaumet had created in the past. The rays represent the sun, which corresponds to our DNA. When you look at the medal playing with light, it seems to come to life with movement.”
The die-cut rays (rather than engraved) give the medals relief, far from the softness of most other sports medals.
The visit continues in the taping workshop, where Capucine Guisnetquality expert at the Paris Mint, presents one of the innovations of these medals: the absence of a ribbon loop.
For the Paris 2024 medals, a slot has been created into which the ribbon is directly integrated thanks to a machine from the Paris Mint.
“The medals are engraved and wrapped one by one with the ribbon inserted using this machine,” explained Capucine Guisnet.
“The Paris Mint has needed a lot of research to arrive at this solution using a modified and modernized machine for this wrapping,” he explained. Joachim Roncindesign director of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
