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Athletes Are Showing What They Get For Winning At The 2024 Olympics, And It's Pretty Cool
Ever wondered what you win if you compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games? Despite my personal odds of such a feat being 0%, the answer did somewhat surprise me.
Let's start with the obvious: If you score in the top three of your sport, you win a medal. This year's medals were made by luxury brand Chaumet and include literal pieces of the Eiffel Tower that were preserved during 20th-century elevator renovations.
If you score in the top eight, you get a paper diploma.
The hexagon further represents the shape of France, while the ribbons feature a print of the latticework in the Eiffel Tower. For Paralympians, the ribbon's red color harks back to the tower's original color. The back of the medal includes Braille for "Paris" and "2024" and a ground-up view of the monument.
The medals are reportedly made of recycled metal. The gold medal isn't solid gold — it's gold-plated silver.
British kayaker Kimberley Woods showed the back of the Olympic medals on TikTok, which depicts the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, in Paris.
Kimberley also showed the Chaumet box that the medal comes in, which includes a certificate from the Eiffel Tower Operating Co. that verifies that the iron is indeed from the monument.
Kimberley Woods / Via tiktok.com
Next, you may have noticed athletes on the podium holding a long, skinny box. In previous years, Olympians have held flowers or the country's mascot — such as Simone Biles in 2016.
Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images), Alex Livesey / Getty Images
In the box is a poster designed by Ugo Gattoni. It was drawn by hand and took 2,000 hours. “I wanted to tell the story of Paris 2024,” Joachim Roncin, director of design at Paris 2024 said. “I wanted the poster to tell countless things, to be full of symbols. There are many small details, they’re stories within the stories." You'll notice that the Olympic and Paralympic posters combine to make one big image.
As per Team Australia canoeist Jessica Fox's TikTok, the poster is marked with the Olympian's medal color as well as an "Athlete's Edition" title.
Post-ceremony, the athletes also win a special mascot (the Phryge) with a medal sewn into their belly. For Olympians, "bravo" is sewn on the Phryge's back while it's written in Braille for the Paralympians. It'll also be what the Paralympians will be presented with on the podium — they'll get their posters later.
According to the official Olympics website, the Phryge is "based on the famous Phrygian cap — a symbol of freedom." Vive la révolution!
As for cash rewards, it depends on what country you're from as the International Olympic Committee doesn't give out money. In the US, that's $38,000 for gold, $23,000 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. This varies pretty wildly — in Hong Kong, you can get $768,000.
All in all, a good haul!
