A symbol of excellence, a source of motivation, of surpassing oneself and of ultimate achievement, medals are much more than objects: they represent the apotheosis in the career of elite athletes.Their power to fascinate and inspire goes far beyond the circle of athletes. I see it when I take them with me on a trip, particularly in the eyes of children.If medals hold such power, it is also because they have remained through history, edition after edition, ever since the modern Olympic Games were created. At Paris 2024, we were faced with a new challenge: to magnify the medals and ensure that they said something about our Olympic and Paralympic Games. We wanted these medals to be truly unique, to bear the Paris 2024 signature.
PARIS 2024 - MÉDAILLES - VISUEL TONY ESTANGUET SARA BALZER MARIE PATOUILLET ARNAUD ASSOUMANI, PARIS 2024 / CYRIL MASSON
To achieve this, we married the strongest symbol of the Games, the medal, with the ultimate symbol of Paris and France around the world, the Eiffel Tower. In what has been a unique creative journey, with strong involvement from the Paris 2024 Athletes Committee, we have enjoyed the honour and fortune to work with the House of Chaumet, the world-renowned expert jeweller famous for its expertise, elegance and embodiment of French craftsmanship.
"Thanks to Chaumet, the Paris 2024 medals have been designed likereal pieces of jewellery: on both sides, they will show the most beautiful face of France. With their piece of the Eiffel Tower, they will be totally unique, creating a genuine link between the medal-winning athletes and our country.
Finally, the Paris 2024 medals will represent the coming together of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Following the reveal of a single emblem, a pair of mascots, a common look of the Games and a single torch design, the Olympic and Paralympic medals also share a face with the same design: the reverse side encrusted with a fragment of the Dame de fer.We are delighted and proud to present the medals for the Games of Paris 2024!," Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024
Medals designed as jewellery
In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was presented as the jewel in the crown of the Universal Exhibition organised to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. To mark the return of the champions 100 years after the last Summer Games in France, the Paris 2024 medals have also been conceived as true pieces of jewellery.
In keeping with its desire to strengthen the links between sport, culture and heritage, Paris 2024 has called on the expertise of French jeweller Chaumet. Founded in 1780, the LVMH group company, Premium Partner of Paris 2024, is the first jeweller in the history of the Games to have the honour of creating the design of the Olympic and Paralympic medals. Renowned worldwide for its expertise, elegance and embodiment of French craftsmanship, Chaumet is bringing the medal into the world of high jewellery with a design based on three inspirations: the hexagon, radiance and the setting
LVMH_MEDAILLE_OLY_ARGENT_CREDIT_THOMAS DESCHAMPS, ©THOMAS DESCHAMPS
Chaumet, gold at your fingertips
Founded in the heart of Paris in 1780, the House of Chaumet has embodied Parisian spirit for over 240 years. Established on the Place Vendôme in 1812, Chaumet’s major clients have included many famous figures, including Gustave Eiffel, who commissioned some superb orders. Chaumet has also always asserted its Parisian identity through its creations, including a pendant representing the Vendôme Column and an Eiffel Tower brooch.
By designing the medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, Chaumet is perpetuating this creative tradition with the extra soul and meaning that often characterise French spirit. The result is a design that captures the spirit of the times and plays with light. Inspired by motifs from the past, Chaumet delivers an innovative aesthetic that is deeply rooted in the present.
Chaumet’s creative teams were keen to draw inspiration from the House’s heritage and archives, and chose three timeless elements as a nod to thepast for an eternal medal.
The Medals of the games in Paris
When the Games are held in Paris, the medals make a lasting impression. The design of the French line of medals, with its blend of bold rupture and historic symbols, never leaves people indifferent.
The medals from the Olympic Games Paris 1900 stand out as the only rectangular example from the Summer Games. On the front, the winged goddess holds laurel branches in both hands, above the city of Paris and the monuments of the Universal Exhibition. On the reverse, a victorious athlete holds up a laurel
branch, with a stadium and the Acropolis of Athens in the background.
For Paris 1924, the medals returned to the traditional round shape associated with the Summer Games. On the front, a victorious athlete lifts up his opponent sitting on the ground, above the first representation of the Olympic rings on a medal. The reverse pays tribute both to the cultural programme of the Games, with the depiction of a harp, and to the organisation of the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in the same year, with various pieces of sports equipment.
After starting in 1896 and continuing through 1900 and 1924, the history of medals is once again being written in France. With Paris 2024, this new pagepromises to be... monumental.