Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 Medal Design Competition launches
Fans from around the world have been invited to submit their designs, with some great prizes up for grabs. We spoke to the previous winner, who is now a medal design judge, to find out his secrets to success.
The Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 Medal Design Competition launched today (2 February), giving fans the chance to be part of Olympic history.
Creators from all over the world have been invited to submit their designs for the front face of the medals that will be awarded at the Games.
The reverse side of the medal will be designed by the Gangwon 2024 YOG Organising Committee, and will reflect elements of Korean culture as well as the YOG emblem.
The competition will close on 8 March 2023, and the winner will be announced at the end of March 2023.
In addition to having their medal design awarded to athletes in Gangwon, the winning creator will receive a round-trip for two to Gangwon 2024, including access to the Opening Ceremony and sports events, as well as a set of medals in addition to other rewards.
There will also be prizes for the second and third-placed designs.
The first edition of the Youth Olympic Games Medal Design Competition took place ahead of Singapore 2010, with the aim of tapping into the imagination of young people across the world.
It has been held for every YOG since, and the winner of the Lausanne 2020 competition, Zakea Page, will serve on the judging panel for the Gangwon 2024 competition.
The artist, designer, and budding filmmaker from New Zealand had the following advice for prospective entrants:
“What worked for me was looking at different designs from previous editions of the Games, as well as other events such as World Cups and Commonwealth Games. And then creating my own vision,” Page said.
“Do a lot of research about the Olympic Movement, Olympic values and also about the host nation and host city. Look at lots of medals from different events, and observe design trends. But then take that and think of something completely fresh.”
“Try to incorporate the Olympic values into the medal design and think about how you could symbolise the upcoming Games,” he adds. “I’m really excited to see what people come up with. I'm also really excited to be part of the judging panel, it’s a huge honour. An Olympic medal means so much, it’s the pinnacle of achievement for athletes.”
Page also suggested that entrants take a look at recent medal designs from around the world, and should consider creating something slightly different.
“The last few medal designs – like the ones for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 – have been quite circular, with the logos being right in the middle. The recent FIFA World Cup medals were also quite circular in design, so that’s been the trend recently. See if you can go in a new direction.”
Click here to see the Medal Design Competition, and check out all the previous winning Youth Olympic Games medal designs here.