The front side is (almost) classic.
Nike, the winged goddess of victory, in the center, flies from the Panathenaic stadium represented by stands, the Acropolis is engraved at the top left, the Olympic rings and the words “Games of the XXXIII Olympiad - Paris 2024” crown the Greek divinity.
So far, no surprises.
The medal exercise entrusted a few months ago to the Parisian jeweler Chaumet (part of LVMH) is closely supervised by the International Olympic Committee.
Since the Athens edition in 2004, the IOC has decided that, for each Summer Olympics, the obverse of the medal will feature all these stylistic elements highlighting the Hellenic origins of the competition.
But, a great victory, on this very codified side, Paris 2024 managed to add its personal touch: adding an Eiffel Tower in the right corner, pendant to the ancient temple.
The real surprise, however, happens on the other side, on the reverse side.
A piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, cut into a hexagon to symbolize France, was set there with six claws, like a precious stone on a piece of jewelry.
The medal is engraved with irregular rays which bounce the light and bring out the dull gray of the metal of the monument, whether on gold, silver and bronze.
This side is used identically for the Paralympic medals, while their obverse, subject to much fewer constraints than the Olympic medals, features the Eiffel Tower seen from below.
Like a photo taken on the ground, in the center of the four pillars, looking towards the sky.
On gold, silver and bronze, the piece of puddled iron of the Eiffel Tower shines perfectly.
Thomas Deschamps
Paris 2024 and its Athletes Commission, chaired by Martin Fourcade, wanted “
the medalists to keep a little piece of France as close to their hearts as possible
”.
For a year, they have worked closely with a small creative team at Chaumet, a historic Parisian jeweler now belonging to the LVMH group.
Place Vendôme artisans approached the project “
like a special order
”, like those they regularly handle for their fine jewelry clients.
They delved into their archives to nourish their inspiration, and even discovered on this occasion, in the registers, commissions from Gustave Eiffel.
The design of the medal was developed with the teams of the jeweler Chaumet place Vendôme.
Thomas Deschamps
“
The decision to involve Chaumet, a major Parisian house, while the games are taking place in Paris, was logical and obvious,”
explains Antoine Arnault, administrator of LVMH, and conductor of the group's partnership with Paris 2024.
Despite the constraints and the framework set by the IOC, great creative freedom was given to them
.
It is a beautiful object, a beautiful jewel which brings together many symbols of France, of Paris, of Place Vendôme
.”
The people who participated in the design, like those who discovered it in preview in recent days, confess a clear penchant for the tails side (the reverse) displaying the real iron of the Eiffel Tower, a puddled iron, it is that is to say refined to be more robust, and taken from stocks used for repairing the monument.
Some even hope that it will be given to the champions next summer in this sense.
But the “IOC sense” should prevail and the medals on the podiums will display their classic side on which appears a reminder of the rays on the obverse.
The workshop, Quai de Conti, of the Paris Mint has already started striking the 5,084 medals needed for next summer.
A jeweler's gouache was made for the medals.
Thomas Deschamps
“
It was a very long process of almost three years
,” Martin Fourcade tells Le
Figaro
.
We go through different phases, reflections, exchanges, tests.
There were a multitude of prototypes of shapes, sizes, colors... After all this work, it's moving to have the final version in our hands.
I find it very successful, elegant, radiant.
It symbolizes Paris well, and is original.
It stands out from the other medals of the Summer Olympics although the exercise is very codified.
»
“
More than a medal, it is the meeting of the most coveted object of the Games with the most iconic symbol of Paris and France, the Eiffel Tower
,” underlined Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024
.
With Chaumet, it becomes an object of art, a jewel which forms the link between the influence of Paris and the crowning glory of all those who will tread the Olympic and Paralympic podiums
.
» Finally, note, since the question comes up regularly, that the gold medal is not in solid gold... but in vermeil, that is to say in silver covered with a layer of at least 6 grams of gold.
On the other hand, the silver one is made from solid silver, while the bronze one is made from red brass, an alloy of copper and zinc.