Tokyo, 24 July 2019 – The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) unveiled the designs of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals today, exactly one year before the commencement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Olympic Medal Designs Unveiled).
The medal ribbon and case designs also unveiled.
The design of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals reflects the concept that in order to achieve glory, athletes have to strive for victory on a daily basis.
The medals resemble rough stones that have polished and which now shine, with “light” and “brilliance” their overall themes.
The medals collect and reflect myriad patterns of light, symbolising the energy of the athletes and those who support them;
their design is intended to symbolise diversity and represent a world where people who compete in sports and work hard are honoured.
The brilliance of the medals’ reflections signifies the warm glow of friendship depicted by people all over the world holding hands.
In order to come up with a range of designs from which to choose, Tokyo 2020 held a competition open to professional designers and design students which attracted more than 400 entries.
As previously announced, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals will be manufactured using the precious metal extracted from mobile phones and other small electronic devices donated by the public.
Medal Specifications Weight
(without ribbon or the pin at the top)
Gold: about 556g
Silver: about 550g
Bronze: about 450g
Thickness
Thinnest part: 7.7 mm
Thickest part: 12.1 mm
Diameter 85 mm
Composition
Gold: more than 6 grams of gold plating on pure silver
Silver: pure silver
Bronze: red brass (95% copper and 5% zinc)
Ribbons
Attached to the top of medals
Side of medals / Olympic Medal Designs Unveiled
The name of the event will engrave in English
Front of medals / Olympic Medal Designs Unveiled
International Olympic Committee regulations stipulate that medal designs should include the following elements:
Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, in front of the Panathinaikos Stadium
The official name of the respective Games, in this case the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
⚫ the Olympic five rings symbol
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medal designer
Junichi Kawanishi Representative, designer, SIGNSPLAN Director, Japan Sign Design Association Director, USD-O (Osaka Design Society).
After graduating from Osaka Art University, he continued drawing and exhibiting paintings while working as assistant at the space design office of the university’s design department.
However, he stopped drawing following the death of his father in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and decided to take up design instead.
Comment “It is a great honour that my design selected for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medal.
I never dreamed that the design I submitted only as a memorial to this lifetime event would be actually selected.
With their shining rings, I hope the medals will see as paying tribute to the athletes’ efforts, reflecting their glory, and symbolising friendship.”
Added Ryohei Miyata, chairperson of the Tokyo 2020 medal design selection panel, “I convinced that Japanese metal moulding techniques and the superb design have combined well, and that we have the best medal in the world – one that we can be proud of.
There is also a beautiful balance between the design of the medals and their ribbons. It makes me want to strive for a medal myself.”
Design of the Victory Medal Ribbon The ribbon will employ the traditional Japanese design motifs found in ichimatsu moyo (harmonised chequered patterns) and kasane no irome (traditional kimono layering techniques) in a modern presentation.
The ribbon design to be a reflection of Japan itself and of the way the country demonstrates “Unity in Diversity”.
The design also promotes the Tokyo 2020 brand vision of “Innovation from Harmony”.
Silicone convex lines are applied on the surface of the ribbon so that anyone can recognise the type of medal (gold, silver or bronze) by simply touching it.
Chemically recycled polyester fibres that produce less CO2 during their manufacturing process are used; these allow the ribbons to incorporate the Tokyo 2020 core graphic colours and to be extremely durable at the same time. The ribbon designed by Tokyo 2020.
Medal Case Design The design of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic medal case inspires the Tokyo 2020 Games emblem.
Each case pays tribute to the Olympians who have reached the pinnacle of athletic achievement.
Japanese craftsmen will carefully create the cases with a blend of traditional and modern techniques.
Like each individual Olympian who steps onto the field of play, each medal case is distinct and has its own wood fibre pattern subtly infused into the design.
The medal case is manufactured from Japanese ash wood dyed with the same colour as the Olympic Emblem, which also serves as inspiration for the shape of the case.
The cases themselves are a reflection of the dedicated craftsmen and the attention to detail that goes into each piece and, like the athletes who will receive the medals, each one is unique.
Diploma
All event finalists (1st to 8th) will receive a diploma made from Mino handmade washi paper. —- tokyo2020
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.