The summer Olympics continued into its second week over the weekend, as many athletes competed in multiple sporting events with the hopes of winning a medal.
The games’ preeminent prize, the gold medal, is the goal of every competitor in the Olympics. Being awarded one means that an athlete is the best in competition in a particular event. As millions of spectators tuned in to watch the world’s greatest athletes compete for gold medals in various sports, many might be surprised to find that the gold medals awarded at the Olympics are mostly made of silver.
According to International Olympic Committee regulations, the so-called gold medal is comprised of at least 92.5% silver. Each medal then receives a gold plate containing at least six grams of gold. Incidentally, silver medals, the award for second place in competitions, is also 92.5% silver, according to multiple reports. Bronze medals are made from a metallic mixture containing 95% copper and 5% zinc.
A representative from the International Olympic Committee revealed the facts about the metals in the medals during an interview with Newsweek in 2021.
“The medals for first and second places shall be of silver of at least 925-1000 grade,” the representative said. “The medal for first place shall be gilded with at least 6g of pure gold.”
This year’s medals will also continue the tradition of having a unique feature that connects them to the city that hosts them.
For example, in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, held in Tokyo in 2021 due to the pandemic, the medals were partially made out of recycled electronic devices from Japan. In 2024, each medal has a piece of iron from the original Eiffel Tower incorporated into its composition.
“Having a gold medal is already something incredible. But we wanted to add this French touch, and we thought that the Eiffel Tower would be this cherry on top,” Joachim Roncin, head of design for this year’s Olympics at the Paris Games organizing committee, said in an interview.
“Having a piece of it is a piece of history,” Roncin said.