LANDMARK VICTORY

Paris Olympic Medals Are Made From Bits of the Eiffel Tower

An official said the idea is to give athletes the chance to “bring back a piece of Paris with them.”

Medals for the 2024 Paris Olympics were made using iron taken from the Eiffel Tower, the tournament’s organizers said Thursday. The gold, silver, and bronze medals all feature a hexagonal piece of metal forged from scrap metal stripped from the city’s most famous landmark. “The absolute symbol of Paris and France is the Eiffel Tower,” Thierry Reboul, the games’ creative director, told reporters. “It’s the opportunity for the athletes to bring back a piece of Paris with them.” The iron used for the medals was taken from the tower during past refurbishments and then spent years in storage at a secret location. The metal was then forged into hexagons as a nod to the geographical shape of France. Medals for the Paralympics feature a design showing a view of the Eiffel Tower from the ground and have the phrase “Paris 2024” stamped in braille—a tribute to Frenchman Louis Braille, who created the writing system.