Paris Olympics Medals To Contain 'Piece Of Eiffel Tower'

The medals awarded at this year's Paris Olympics and Paralympics will feature a hexagon-shaped piece of iron taken from the original Eiffel Tower in their centre, organisers said as they unveiled their design on Thursday. All 5,084 gold, silver and bronze medals for the Paris Games will feature the six-edged metal medallion which will be set like a gemstone under a design by elite French jewellery house Chaumet. "We wanted to offer to all medal-winners at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics a piece of the Eiffel Tower from 1889," said the head of the local organising committee, Tony Estanguet. 

The medals were "a combination of the most precious metals from the medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- with the most precious metal in our country, from this treasure that is the Eiffel Tower."

The design by Chaumet, whose creations have adorned aristocrats and the affluent since 1780, also features a circular arrangement of ridges intended to catch the light and evoke the sun's rays.

The iron hexagon -- a shape which echoes the contours of mainland France -- is held in place by six spurs on each corner which are intended to resemble the rivets used on the Eiffel Tower.

The metal was taken from a Paris warehouse used to stock offcuts by the operating company which maintains the 330-metre (1,083-foot) landmark, known affectionately as the "Old Lady" in France. 

"We found out that over the years during the maintenance of the Eiffel Tower that they were obliged to remove some of the original structure," Thierry Reboul, the director of ceremonies, explained during an advance preview of the medals for AFP and other media.

"We used these pieces. There were more than enough of them."

Medal design is a key part of each Games' aesthetic,