The Paris 2024 Olympic Medals Contain Pieces of the Iconic Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower has remains from numerous renovations, and those were included in the medals.
Published July 31 2024, 10:27 a.m. ET
The athletes attending the Summer Olympic Games in Paris all want the same thing: a chance to win a gold medal. But this year, the prize is more special.
The 2024 game winners will earn bragging rights and a piece of Paris's Eiffel Tower. Here's how the famous monument is connected to the medals.
The Olympic and Paralympic 2024 medals contain pieces of the Eiffel Tower.
In honor of the Games being in France for the first time in years, the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission gave the athletes something to symbolize their wins. The commission, chaired by Martin Fourcade, decided to utilize the Eiffel Tower by adding pieces of it to each bronze, silver, and gold medal.
According to the Olympics' website, the task is possible because multiple remains from the Eiffel Tower's renovations, which were completed between 1887 and 1889, remain. The metallic elements left over from the upgrades were "permanently removed and conserved in this process" and ultimately used for the medals.
Are the Olympic gold medals real gold?
While the concept of taking home any medal made with pieces of the Eiffel Tower sounds appealing, many who arrive at the Olympics want the gold medal they've seen their icons or peers win. However, the prize isn't exactly as shiny as it seems.
According to USA Today, the gold medals aren't actually made of real gold — at least, not entirely. Instead, the International Olympic Committee requires that they be made of at least 92.5 percent silver.
Each medal has some gold sprinkled in it, as most medals have about six grams of gold in them. Additionally, the silver medals are mixed with iron and silver, while the bronze medal is mostly made of copper, zinc, and iron.
