To celebrate the return of the Games to France, each Games medal is embellished with an original piece of the Eiffel Tower. To create this meeting between the most prestigious object of the Games and the iconic monument of France and Paris, Paris 2024 worked on the design of the medal with Chaumet, an LVMH Group company which is a Premium Partner of Paris 2024.

Winning a medal at the Games can change a life. Every athlete dreams of it, so it was only appropriate that they were involved in the design process for the medals of the Paris 2024 Games. The Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission, chaired by Martin Fourcade, participated in the search for an idea to symbolise the identity of the next Games. The winning idea was an obvious choice. To associate the iconic monument of France and Paris – the Eiffel Tower – with the most prestigious object of the Games: the medal.

The idea was to link the Games with symbols of France, said Thierry Reboul, creative director of Paris 2024.
“The absolute symbol of Paris and France is the Eiffel Tower. It’s the opportunity for the athletes to bring back a piece of Paris with them.” said Reboul.

Built between 1887 and 1889, the “Dame de fer” has since undergone numerous renovations. Certain metallic elements have been permanently removed and conserved in this process. For the Paris 2024 Games, the Eiffel Tower Operating Company is allowing these genuine pieces of Parisian and French history to find glory again.

Designed by jeweller Chaumet, the 18 gram hexagon tokens, representing the shape of France, are made of iron from past refurbishments of the Tower stored for years in a warehouse whose location is secret.

The original Eiffel Tower iron is formed in a hexagon – the geometrical shape of France herself. This symbol is a reminder of the whole nation’s engagement in delivering an historic Olympic and Paralympic Games. Stripped of its “Eiffel Tower brown” paint, the iron is returned to its original colour. Placed in the centre and imprinted with the emblem of the Paris 2024 Games, this piece of heritage fits perfectly within the gold, silver and bronze core of the medal.

On the same side of the medal, fine lines project outwards at regular intervals from around the iron hexagon. Embossed rather than engraved, these lines bring relief and sparkle to a medal that is far from being smooth. This creative concept embodies both the radiance of France in the world and the shining performances of the athletes at the Games.

They sit in the centre of the gold, silver and bronze medals, ringed with grooves evoking light rays bursting outward – drawn from a tiara design in Chaumet’s archives. The back of the medals features the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, charging forward, with the Acropolis to one side and the Eiffel Tower to the other.

Linking the Olympic and Paralympic medals
Following the unveiling of a single emblem, a duo of identical mascots, a common look and a shared torch, Paris 2024 continued its ambition to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games closer together. The Olympic and Paralympic medals thereby share one side with the same design: the side encrusted with the Eiffel Tower iron.

The Eiffel Tower has also inspired the unique design of the ribbons for the medals. For the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, the medal ribbons will be adorned with the Eiffel Tower lattice work. The Olympic medal ribbons will be dark blue, while those of the Paralympic medals will be a deep red – a mix of the first two coats of paint (“Venice red” and “red-brown”) used on the Eiffel Tower.

Paralympics medals feature a view of the Eiffel Tower from underneath, and are stamped with Paris 2024 in braille – homage to the Frenchman who invented it.

The 5 084 medals are produced by France’s mint, the Monnaie de Paris.