Medal Facts
Picture of Medals

Winter Olympians hope to medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. And they now know what they're shooting for.

An athlete emerging from rock, fire and ice is the symbol on the 2002 Olympic medals, which were unveiled on Monday.

The gold, silver, and bronze medals are unique to Olympic history. And as Olympics Specialist Shelley Osterloh reports, they're created entirely in Utah.

The front of the medal shows an athlete rising from the flames, ice and rock: a symbol of the resilience of the human spirit and the power to inspire.

On the back, the goddess of victory-- her arm curled around a picture depicting the individual sport. This is the first time that's ever been done on a medal.

The shape: Uneven, textured, like river rock.

Mitt Romney/SLOC Pres. & CEO: "WE WANTED SOMETHING THAT WAS HEAVY, THAT FELT NOT LIKE A MACHINED ROUND ITEM, BUT INSTEAD A HEAVY-- ALMOST LIKE PIECE OF SCULPTURE, A PIECE OF THE EARTH."

Even the raw materials were mined from Utah earth.

Last April, Kennecott Copper Mines delivered gold, silver, zinc and copper to O.C. Tanner.

Foundry workers heat raw metals to about 2000 degrees and pour it into bars, from which blanks or rough forms are cut.

The multi-process project began with sculptured plaster, which was scanned into a computer.

The computer creates what they call a tool path... a pattern for the cutting tool to drill the rough shape into metal.

A die machine follows the computerized tool path to cut the metal blank, creating a profile or rough cut of the pattern.

Shelley Osterloh: "THIS IS THE MACHINE THAT ACTUALLY PRESSES THE MEDALS. TWO MILLION POUNDS OF PRESSURE AND I GET TO PUSH THE BUTTON. HERE WE GO."

The press adds the final detail and sport-specific pictures on each medal.

Until now, the gold and silver medals are the same, made of 92.5% sterling silver. In the plating room, some are dipped in gold to add a coating of six grams of gold.

Then each is hand finished.

Each step of the process was done in secret, only about 20 O.C. Tanner employees worked on the medals. Now they're proud for the world to see them.

Kent Murdoch/Pres. & CEO OC Tanner: "THERE IS A WONDERFUL FEELING OF CONTRIBUTING TO A GREAT COMMUNITY, UTAH, EVENT AND BEING A GREAT CORPORATE CITIZEN."

OC Tanner Project Manager: "AND THEN TO SEE IT COMPLETE AND KNOW THAT AN ATHLETE WHO HAS WORKED HIS ENTIRE LIFE IS GOING TO BE WEARING THIS AROUND THEIR NECK, IT'S EXCITING."

The sashes are added. The only thing needed are the winners to wear them.

SLOC surveyed Olympic winners to find out what they wanted in a medal, and incorporated their ideas into the design.

Medals Facts

• There will be 239 gold, silver and bronze medals each produced for the Games for a total of 717 medals.

• No two medals exactly the same.

• 1.25 pounds each: The heaviest produced for any Olympic Games.

• Creating each medal requires about 15 processes and 20 hours of work.

• OC Tanner is also producing about 5500 participant medals to be awared to each and every athlete that competes in the 2002 winter games.

• Front: Athlete bursts forth from flames carrying a torch. The Olympic Rings anchor the image of the athlete, while the words "Light the Fire Within" are etched into the medal.

• Back: Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, holds a small victory leaf. Within Nike’s embrace is an illustration of the event for which the medal is being presented. Also imprinted on the back of the medal are the Crystal Emblem, the words "Salt Lake 2002" and the name of the event.

• Base of the ribbon loop: Roman numeral XIX, signifying the XIX Olympic Winter Games.

• Designed by Brent Watts, creative director of Axiom, a Salt Lake City based firm, and SLOC’s senior creative team, including Scott Givens, managing director of the Creative Group, Libby Hyland, director of Creative Services, and Ron Stucki, design manager.

• The boxes that hold the medals are made of a single piece of walnut, with a rectangular medallion of gold, silver or bronze inset of the Olympic rings on the front.