The presentation of the medals took place in St Petersburg, Russia, in the presence of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy and Sochi 2014 President Dmitry Chernyshenko. The event followed the approval earlier in the day of the medals by the IOC’s Executive Board.

Made by skilled craftsmen

The Sochi 2014 Olympic medals are truly unique and feature Sochi 2014’s “Patchwork Quilt” – a mosaic of national designs from the various cultures and ethnicities of the Russian Federation. The medals depict the landscape of Sochi, with the sun’s golden rays reflecting through a prism of snowy mountain tops onto the sandy beaches of the Black Sea coast. Made by skilled craftsmen from a combination of metal and polycarbonate, the medals have a sense of lightness and distinctive beauty, which will make it all the more special for the lucky athletes that get to take one home from the Games next year.

(c) IOC/Richard Juilliart

It’s all in the details

The medals also contain a number of unique details. For example, the front of the medals features the Olympic rings, while the reverse contains the name of the competition in English and the logo of the Sochi Games, with the official name of the Games engraved in Russian, English and French on the rim. The Olympic medals will weigh between 460 and 531 grams depending on the metal used – gold, silver or bronze - and will be 10mm thick and 100mm in diameter. In total, about 1,300 medals will be manufactured for the Sochi 2014 Games.

(c) Sochi 2014