Winter Olympics' Medals are... Green?! - The UpStream

Winter Olympics' Medals are... Green?!

posted Sunday Oct 18, 2009 by Nicholas DiMeo

Winter Olympics' Medals are... Green?!

Go green! That seems to be the message on everybody's minds, including those who created the medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. These are certainly not your conventional medals, you know, the traditional circle with some sort of design on them, usually resembling medals the athletes have previously won, nothing too catchy. This bold new design gives competitors a new incentive to win and helps the environment at the same time. What could be better than that?

Every medallion is constructed, at least partly from recycled circuit boards. Weighing a whopping 500-576 grams, the medals have a unique design, due to the fact that the circuit boards were recycled beyond recognition.

Omer Arbel, industrial designer and architect based the medals on large master artworks by Komoyue and Tlingit artist, Corrine Hunt. Hunt decided to use the orca whale to represent the Olympics because, according to her, a whale's pod demonstrates teamwork.

The athletes were involved in the process of creating these medals, according to VANOC deputy and CEO, Dave Cobb, who said, "They wanted them to be big and heavy."

Things became a bit more difficult when the leader of the top-secret project, VANOC design chief Leo Obstbaum, passed away suddenly in August, leaving the construction up to his colleagues, but they certainly did their part to make these the most creative medals ever seen.

At the ancient Olympics, winners received olive wreaths as a sign of victory. The Olympic Games were brought back in 1896, where silver was the first prize. Now with "green" medals, it proves that we've come a long way since then!

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