Paris Olympics 2024 medals to contain 'piece of Eiffel Tower': Organisers

The medals awarded at this years Paris 2024 and Paralympics will feature a hexagonshaped piece of iron taken from the original Eiffel Tower in their centre organisers said as they unveiled their design on Thursday All 5084 gold silver and bronze medals for the Paris Games will feature the sixedged metal medallion which will be set like a gemstone under a design by elite French jewellery house Chaumet We wanted to offer to all medalwinners at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics a piece of the Eiffel Tower from 1889 said the head of the local organising committee Tony Estanguet The medals were a combination of the most precious metals from the medals gold silver and bronze with the most precious metal in our country from this treasure that is the Eiffel Tower The design by Chaumet whose creations have adorned aristocrats and the affluent since 1780 also features a circular arrangement of ridges intended to catch the light and evoke the suns rays The iron hexagon a shape which echoes the contours of mainland France is held in place by six spurs on each corner which are intended to resemble the rivets used on the Eiffel Tower The metal was taken from a Paris warehouse used to stock offcuts by the operating company which maintains the 330metre 1083foot landmark known affectionately as the Old Lady in France We found out that over the years during the maintenance of the Eiffel Tower that they were obliged to remove some of the original structure Thierry Reboul the director of ceremonies explained during an advance preview of the medals for AFP and other media We used these pieces There were more than enough of them Medal design is a key part of each Games aesthetic along with the logo mascots and opening ceremonyAlso Read Abhinav Bindra selected as torchbearer for the 2024 Paris OlympicsSince 2004 the back of all medals show the Greek goddess Nike flying into the historic Panathinaikos stadium in Athens site of the original Olympic Games of antiquity Paris organisers squeezed a concession from the International Olympic Committee enabling them to slightly alter the design to add an Eiffel Tower to the scene All the metal used in the Paris medals which weigh around half a kilogramme has been recycled The last Olympics in Tokyo saw Japanese organisers also incorporate recycled metal with each medal moulded from alloys extracted from used consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptopsThough designed by Chaumet the medals will be manufactured by the national mint which has strongly denied a recent report that it has struggled to find a nontoxic agent with which to coat each one The puddle iron used in the construction of the Eiffel Tower in particular needs protection from air and humidity to prevent it from oxidizing Weve not had any issue with this Joachim Roncin head of design for Paris 2024 told reporters Chaumet which counted tower designer Gustav Eiffel and his family as clients is one of the more than 70 leading luxury brands owned by French conglomerate LVMH which is a major corporate sponsor Headquartered in the exclusive Place Vendome in Paris Chaumets work more usually involves handling oneoff orders from royalty and billionaires for diamondstudded high jewellery for marriages and highsociety parties We knew that everyone was going to be looking at this event in 2024 and we knew we couldnt afford to trip up the head of Chaumets jewelry atelier Benoit Verhulle said We decided to treat the piece of Eiffel Tower like a precious stone We set it using our expertise as a jewellery house he said Other LVMH brands including Berluti Dior and Louis Vuitton are also set to feature at the Paris Olympics under the companys sponsorship deal The Eiffel Tower is set to have a central role during the Games which will run from July 26August 11 and the Paralympics from August 28September 8 The opening ceremony will see sports teams sail down the river Seine and disembark opposite the landmark while there is speculation that the Olympic flame will be placed on the tower for the duration of the GamesWith AFP inputs