Paris 2024: how metal from the Eiffel Tower was incorporated into the medals for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games
Whether you find them fascinating or inspiring, the Olympic and Paralympic medals are the subject of a great amount of curiosity whenever they are revealed. Now we know exactly what the Paris 2024 medals are made from: a rare, precious and unique metal is at the centre of each of them - and it comes from the Eiffel Tower.
For thousands of athletes across the globe, Olympic medals are the Holy Grail. They are a part of history and their importance in the world of sport spans many different generations and sporting exploits. For Paris 2024, the decision was made to combine one of the strongest symbols of the Olympic Games - the medals - with the most iconic symbol of the French nation - the Eiffel Tower.
To make this happen, Chaumet, expert jewellers recognised the world over for their elegance and importance to the French craft of jewellery making, were chosen to create the medals.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, every Olympic and Paralympic medal will be adorned with a highly symbolic and invaluable piece of metal: the original iron used in the construction of the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower and the medals of Paris 2024: a complex process of craft and creativity
During the 20th century, work was undertaken to modernise the elevators of the Eiffel Tower. As a result, sections of the tower were permanently removed from the Iron Lady and carefully preserved.
For the upcoming Olympic Games, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel has allowed these bonafide pieces of Parisian and French history to find a second home.
Manufactured in the forges of the city of Pompey, Lorraine in the east of France, the cast iron produced by the reduction of iron ore is refined through a process called “puddling”. Once the excess carbon from the cast iron is removed, the iron that remains is almost pure and extremely robust.
By integrating one of the most prestigious metals in France into the centre of the most prestigious medals in sport, Paris 2024 has continued the tradition begun by the audacious genius Gustave Eiffel. The famous engineer revolutionised the conventional techniques of his time to build the first-ever 300m tall tower. By incorporating fragments of the Eiffel Tower into the Olympic medals, Paris 2024 hopes to leave athletes with lasting memories of the Olympic Games, Paris and France.
“We’ve decided to add this hexagon [which represents the shape of France] in the way we would a gemstone - in the centre and placed as the most precious element of the medal,” said Clémentine Massonnat who is in charge of creative activities at Chaumet.
The design of the medal is also a nod to the trailblazing engineer Eiffel who ordered a pearl necklace from Chaumet to celebrate his daughter’s wedding at the end of the 19th century.