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≡ MEDALS REVEALED ≡
“The official medals of the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games have been unveiled in Venice, designed as two halves that symbolize the culmination of an athlete and Para athlete’s journey and of all those who have walked beside them along the way. Created by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), Official Sponsor of the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.”
Tuesday’s announcement included the usual barrage of photographs and videos on the medals, how they were designed and being manufactured. The two-halves, two-textures design also salutes the dual hosting of Milan and Cortina.
The Olympic medals have the two-halves front and the Olympic rings; the Paralympic medals have the same design, but with the Paralympic agitos.
The words “XXV OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES” are incised on the medal’s edge, with an indicator of first place (one bar), second (two) or third (three), and the IPZS maker’s identification mark (IPZS is the Italian state mint).
On the back, the Olympic medal continues the two-halves design, with the Milano Cortina 2026 logo on top and the name of the sport and event. The Paralympic reverse also has the logo and sport and event, but adds braille as well. The Olympic lanyards are blue and the Paralympic lanyards are red.
The key facts:
● 1,146 medals will be awarded in 195 events across both Games
● Olympic Winter Games: 245 gold, silver and bronze medals (735 total).
● Winter Paralympic Games: 137 gold, silver and bronze medals (411 total)
● All medals are 80 mm in diameter and 10 mm thick
● Gold medals are .999 silver + 6 g gold (506 g: 17.85 oz)
● Silver medals are .999 silver (500 g: 17.64 oz)
● Bronze medals are copper (420 g: 14.82 oz)
The medal boxes and medal trays are being specially designed Versalis (Eni), already working on the Olympic and Paralympic torches and an Official Supporter of the Games.
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Milan Cortina 2026 will be the 25th Olympic Winter Games, and as the medal designs are completely up to the organizing committee, they have varied greatly over time. They have also gotten bigger and bigger. The 2026 medals will be 80 mm in diameter, a third larger than the 60 mm-wide medals for the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina. But the 2026 awards are not close to being the largest; the top 15 (no data available on the 2022 Beijing medals):
● 107 mm: 2006 Turin (ITA)
● 100 mm: 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER)
● 100 mm: 2010 Vancouver (CAN)
● 100 mm: 2014 Sochi (RUS)
● 92.5 mm: 2018 PyeongChang (KOR)
● 92 mm: 1992 Albertville (FRA)
● 85 mm: 2002 Salt Lake City (USA)
● 80 mm: 1980 Lake Placid (USA)
● 80 mm: 1998 Nagano (JPN)
● 80 mm: 2026 Milan Cortina (ITA)
● 78 mm: 1994: Lillehammer (NOR)
● 72 mm: 1976 Innsbruck (AUT)
● 71 mm: 1952 Oslo (NOR)
● 71 mm: 1984 Sarajevo (YUG)
● 70 mm: 1964 Sapporo (JPN)
The weight of the medals has also become an issue, with the 2018 PyeongChang medals weighing in at 586 grams for the gold, a neck-straining 20.67 ounces! The 2026 medals will be a more svelte 506 g or 17.85 oz. for the gold medals.
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