Making Of Olympic Medals: Full Details

The Olympic gold is the ultimate dream of any athlete in the world. Athletes put their heart and sweat into the sport for the Olympic glory. The most decorated athletes have gold, silver and bronze medals in their cabinet.

Tradition of awarding medals to the top athletes in Olympics goes way back to the first modern Olympic Games, the Athens Olympics in 1896.

When the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 medals started to be given to successful Olympian competitors.

The tradition of bestowing Olympic medals to the top athletes in each event can be traced all the way back to the first modern Olympic Games, which was held in Athens in 1896. However, the tradition of bestowing gold, silver and bronze medals began only at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Making of Olympic Medals

The gold medal in reality is mostly made of silver and is simply plated with pure gold to give it the golden glow. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set out criteria that gold medals must be made of at least 92.5% of silver. They also have about 6 grams of gold in each medal.

Here are the compositions of each medal:

Gold Medal: The gold medals contain only about six grams of pure gold which is plated on the exterior part of the medal. The gold medals consist mostly of silver with a purity of at least 92.5%. It is valued at approximately $750 to $850 dollars (based solely on the value of the materials).

Silver Medal: Silver medals are made out of pure silver.

Bronze Medal: Bronze medals are made of about 95% copper and 5% zinc.

In the past, medals have been made of scrapped materials. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, an estimated 30 per cent of the silver and bronze medals were brought in from recycled materials. The medals for the 2020 were made from recycled e-waste to reduce the carbon footprint.

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Medals for Paris Olympics 2024

Each medal at 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will contain a 18-gram, hexagonal piece of wrought iron that was once a part of the Eiffel Tower and was and preserved during the 20th-century.

The hexagonal shape is a tribute to France which is also known as ““L’hexagone”, owing to the nation’s shape that resembles a hexagon.

The back side of the Olympic medals at Paris Games will feature the traditional Olympic rings and Nike—the Greek goddess of victory.

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