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Olympic and Paralympic medals locked up in the Tower of London

  • 03 Jul 2012
London 2012 medals to be housed at the historic Tower of London. Copyright Notice - LOCOG

Rio Tinto, the mining company responsible for the production of the precious metals for the London 2012 Games, will hand over the final Olympic and Paralympic medals to LOCOG for secure storage in the vaults at the Tower of London during the Games.

The gold, silver and bronze medals which will be awarded to the athletes at Games-times, will be securely locked away in the famous vaults at the Tower of London and will remain there until they are needed for the Victory Ceremonies. In total, 4,700 medals have been produced and will be awarded in 805 Victory Ceremonies that will take place in over 30 London 2012 venues across the UK.

A ceremonial event took place last night at the Tower at which the final medals arrived and were taken down to the vaults by Rio Tinto Chairman, Jan du Plessis, and LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe.

The Olympic medals’ circular form is a metaphor for the world. The front of the medal always depicts the same imagery at the summer Games - the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike, stepping out of the depiction of the Parthenon to arrive in the Host City.

The front of the Paralympic medal represents ‘Spirit in motion’. The image struck into the obverse surface of the Paralympic medal is an imagined close-up section of an outstretched wing of Goddess of Victory, Nike. This image represents forward flight, power and lightness - a natural metaphor for the spirit of the Paralympic Games.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on the blog http://www.london2012.com/blog , Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012 or download the Official London 2012 Join In app.

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