The medals that paddlers will be fighting for during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been unveiled.
Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet, a three-time Olympic champion in Canoe Slalom, was on hand to reveal the design of the gold, silver and bronze medals that will be up for grabs in the French capital.
A small piece of the original iron from the Eiffel Tower has been inserted into each of the medals to ensure athletes will leave the Games with an enduring memory of Paris.
The "puddle" iron has been restored to its original colour after being stripped of its “Eiffel Tower brown” paint and then cut into a hexagon which refers to the shape of France.
Fine lines around the iron hexagon in the middle of the medals look to represent the radiance of France and athletes during Paris 2024.
French expert jewellery maker Chaumet is the first jeweller in the history of the Games to have the opportunity to design the Olympic and Paralympic medals.
The Eiffel Tower is also the inspiration for the design of the ribbons that will enable athletes to wear the medals around their necks.
Crosspieces of the Eiffel Tower feature on the ribbons which are in sober blue for the Olympic medals and deep red for the Paralympic medals.
The front of the Paralympic medals features a graphic representation of a low-angle view under the Eiffel Tower.
The words “Paris” and “2024” frame the pillars of the Tower and are written in Braille, a script symbolizing accessibility and a reference to its French investor, Louis Braille.
Lines have also been engraved on the edge of the medal won: I for gold, II for silver and III for bronze, to enable the three metals to be distinguished by touch.
“At Paris 2024, we were faced with a new challenge: to magnify the medals and ensure that they said something about our Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Estanguet, a former Vice-President of the International Canoe Federation.
“We wanted these medals to be truly unique, to bear the Paris 2024 signature.
“To achieve this, we married the strongest symbol of the Games, the medal, with the ultimate symbol of Paris and France around the world, the Eiffel Tower.
“In what has been a unique creative journey, with strong involvement from the Paris 2024 Athletes Committee, we have enjoyed the honour and fortune to work with the House of Chaumet, the world-renowned expert jeweller famous for its expertise, elegance and embodiment of French craftsmanship.
“Thanks to Chaumet, the Paris 2024 medals have been designed likereal pieces of jewellery: on both sides, they will show the most beautiful face of France.
“With their piece of the Eiffel Tower, they will be totally unique, creating a genuine link between the medal-winning athletes and our country.
“Finally, the Paris 2024 medals will represent the coming together of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Following the reveal of a single emblem, a pair of mascots, a common look of the Games and a single torch design, the Olympic and Paralympic medals also share a face with the same design: the reverse side encrusted with a fragment of the Dame de fer.”
Vaires-sur-Marne will stage the Olympic canoeing events at Paris 2024, with slalom taking place from July 27 to August 5 followed by sprint from August 6 to 10.
It will then host paracanoe from September 6 to 8 during the Paralympics.
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