Vancouver’s Olympic Medals: Arty, Wavy, Partly Recycled and Cool

“You want the Olympic medal to be totally different, and you want to be surprised by it, and these do just that,” Nathalie Lambert, the chef de mission for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, told told the Vancouver Sun after the medals were revealed Thursday. And while surprising isn’t quite the word I’d use, Vancouver’s medals are certainly different. ↵↵
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↵↵They’re a bit pricey, maybe: According to the Sun, the combined market cost of the materials used in the medals, some of the heaviest in Olympic history, is about $1.8 million. That investment and some creative thinking, though, resulted in some remarkable pieces. ↵↵Each medal is based on a section from two master artworks designed in part by an aboriginal artist, which makes every medal unique for the first time. The medals’ undulating design, also a first in Olympic history, is supposed to represent Canadian topography. And, though the design is the draw, a small portion of the metal used to create each piece comes from recycled electronic products, which seems like a bit of trivia that will be flogged to death by the media next year. ↵

↵↵Of course, without a standard design, Winter Olympics medals are often departures from the typically staid tokens from past Summer Games: In 1992, Albertville’s were mostly glass, and Torino’s, in 2006, had holes. And, hey, they’re Olympic medals: Champions would show off pieces of bark painted gold if necessary. But this is a neat little intersection of art, society, and sports that does a good job of representing the Olympic spirit in general and the Vancouver Games in particular, and that’s enough to make this snow-averse Floridian smile. Just don’t ask me to bobsled. ↵

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