{"id":5432,"date":"2021-07-28T17:57:42","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T15:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/?p=5432"},"modified":"2021-07-28T17:59:11","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T15:59:11","slug":"the-evolution-of-the-medals-of-the-olympic-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/the-evolution-of-the-medals-of-the-olympic-games\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of the medals of the Olympic Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The design and conception of the Olympic medals have evolved greatly over the years, from the first Ancient Olympic Games in 776 BC to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. A look back at the history of these Olympic awards.<\/p>\n

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The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo<\/strong> are launched, and the French<\/strong> have already managed to win 8 medals<\/strong>, including three gold medals<\/strong>: Romain Cannone<\/strong> in fencing; Clarisse Agbegnenou<\/strong> in judo (-63kg) and Hugo Boucheron<\/strong> and Matthieu Androdias<\/strong> in rowing, two silver medals<\/strong>: Amandine Buchard<\/strong> in judo (-52kg) and Sarah-L\u00e9onie Cysique<\/strong>, also in judo (-57kg), as well as three bronze medals: Luka Mkheidze<\/strong> in judo (-60kg), Manon Brunet<\/strong> in fencing and Alth\u00e9a Laurin<\/strong> in Taekwondo (+67kg).<\/p>\n

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Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias, rowing gold medalists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Although today, medals<\/strong> are inseparable from the Olympic Games<\/strong>, this was not always the case, and they were not present at the Ancient Olympic Games<\/strong>, which were held in Olympia<\/strong>, Greece. Today, as the tradition wants it, a flame is lit in front of the ruins of the temple of Hera, on the site of Olympia<\/strong>, in every edition of the Games<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The winners of the Ancient Olympic Games<\/strong> were formerly rewarded by the hellanodice, judge of the Games<\/strong>, which gave to the sportsmen a branch of palm tree. They were then decorated with red ribbons from the feet to the head.<\/p>\n

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The last day of the Games<\/strong>, the closing ceremony was held in the temple of Zeus. It is at this time that the great Olympic champion<\/strong> was named by the herald, after one named his father and the city in which he was born. The hellanodice approached then to give a crown of olive tree (kotinos) to the great winner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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In Greek mythology<\/strong>, this crown would have been given for the first time by Heracles to Zeus after his victory in the most important event of the Ancient Games<\/strong>, the race of the stadion. If medals have now replaced the laurel wreath, an olive branch, a silver medal and a diploma were offered to the winner of the first modern Olympic Games<\/strong>. The American athlete James Connolly was the first to receive this award.<\/p>\n

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From the Games<\/strong> of 1900, trophies<\/strong> and cups replaced the olive branches<\/strong> and medals<\/strong>. The gold, silver and bronze medals<\/strong> will appear only in 1904, but they are carried on the chest of the sportsmen. The medals<\/strong> will come to settle on the neck of the athletes from the Games<\/strong> of 1960 in Rome.<\/p>\n

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Since then, the gold<\/strong>, silver<\/strong> and bronze medals<\/strong> have become a symbol of the Olympic Games<\/strong>. For the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo<\/strong>, the design of the medals was chosen after a competition that brought together nearly 400 projects. The Japanese designer Junichi Kawanishi<\/strong> from Osaka Art University won the competition.<\/p>\n

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The design of the medals proposed by Junichi Kawanishi<\/strong> uses traditional techniques<\/strong> (ichimatsu moyo<\/em> and kasane no irome<\/em>) and is placed under the same sign as the Tokyo 2020 Games<\/strong>, “Innovation from Harmony<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

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The gold medal<\/strong> weighs about 556g and is composed of more than 6 grams of gold plating on pure silver, while the silver medal<\/strong> weighs about 550g and is composed entirely of pure silver. The bronze medal<\/strong> weighs about 450g and is made of red brass (95% copper and 5% zinc). All three medals have a diameter of 85mm.<\/p>\n

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The moment you have all been waiting for, your #Tokyo2020<\/a> Olympic Medals! ???<\/p>\n

RT for good luck! 100% #Sustainable<\/a> #1YearToGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/DcLKtEF0DQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n