PARIS 2024 is upon us and some of the world’s best athletes are set for a date with destiny.
The Summer Olympics kick off on Friday and will last until August 11 before the Paralympics follow on August 28 until September 8.
The medals for this year’s Games have been unveiled and there will be a special touch this time around.
A grand total of 5,084 gold, silver and bronze medals have been designed.
And each recipient is set to pick up a unique piece of Paris’ greatest landmark.
SunSport bring you all the info about this year’s Olympic medals:
The medals will feature a hexagon-shaped piece of iron taken from the original Eiffel Tower in their centre.
They will also feature the six-edged metal medallion which will be set like a gemstone under a design by elite French jewellery house Chaumet.
The design includes a circular arrangement of ridges intended to catch the light and evoke the sun’s rays.
The 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.
Paris organisers requested that the traditional medal design – which includes Greek goddess Nike flying into the historic Panathenaic stadium in Athens on the back – be slightly altered so that they could add an Eiffel Tower to the scene.
All the metal used in the medals, which weigh around half a kilogram, has been recycled.
Tony Estanguet, head of the local organising committee, said: “We wanted to offer to all medal-winners at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics a piece of the Eiffel Tower from 1889.
“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.”
Thierry Reboul, the director of ceremonies also explained: “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.
“We used these pieces. There were more than enough of them.”
