Enlarge image
This is what the medals that will be given out to the athletes in Tokyo look like
Photo: Stanislav Kogiku / ZUMA Wire / imago images
At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, around 5000 medals were produced for 339 decisions.
But what about the medals?
In a sense, the successful athletes hang old smartphones around their necks at the award ceremony.
6.21 million used cell phones were collected across Japan for the production of the medals, and for the first time they are made from 100 percent recycled precious metals.
Other old electronic devices and computer circuit boards also served as a source for the precious metals, a total of around 79,000 tons were collected.
In Japan, 18,000 collection boxes were set up in 1621 communities for this purpose.
Around 32 kilograms of gold, 3500 kilograms of silver and 2200 kilograms of bronze were extracted from this amount.
Gold medals are mostly made of silver
The gold medals are mostly made of silver, but are coated with a layer of gold.
The medal was made by the German company ESG Edelmetall-Service, but designed by the Japanese Junichi Kawanishi.
There are certain guidelines of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The design of the medals must include the following elements:
The goddess of victory Nike in front of the Panathinaikos stadium in Athens.
The official name of the respective games, in this case: XXXII.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The Olympic symbol of the five rings.
Tokyo is focusing on sustainability at the Olympic Games.
In addition to the medals, this also has an effect on the beds in the Olympic Village, which this year are made of cardboard.
Nevertheless, they are resilient, as demonstrated by an Irish gymnast who jumped on them in a Twitter video.
hba / sid