Olympic And Paralympic Medal Designs Revealed For Beijing

Photographers capture the Olympic flame at the Beijing Olympic Tower on Oct. 20, 2021 in Beijing, China.

As if athletes needed any more motivation with just 100 days to go until the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, they now can envision the actual hardware they hope to have hanging around their necks.

🎉With exactly 1️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣days to go before the start of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the design of the medals that will be awarded at the Games has been unveiled! 🏅️🥈🥉#beijing2022 #medal #Olympics pic.twitter.com/c5Zi9gZETe

— Beijing 2022 (@Beijing2022) October 26, 2021

The Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) unveiled the design of the gold, silver and bronze medals to be handed out at the Games beginning Feb. 4. Encompassing the 2022 themes of togetherness while also harkening back to Chinese history, the medal design is known as “Tong Xin,” meaning “together as one.” A “simple and classic” design was selected in order to tie in with the BOCOG principles of a “streamlined, safe and splendid” 2022 Games.

👀🏅Watch this video to take a closer look at our medals and understand the excitement, enthusiasm, and concept behind the medals‘design. #Beijing2022 #Olympics #medal pic.twitter.com/Zjr2t7Bq5w

— Beijing 2022 (@Beijing2022) October 26, 2021

That simple design includes five concentric rings radiating out from the center that contains the Olympic rings on the front and the Beijing logo on the back. Cloud and snow patterns are engraved within the deeply carved rings. The rings are reminiscent of designs found on ancient Chinese jade pendants. Jade was also used as an inlay on the medals of the 2008 Beijing Games. 

The back of the medals also contains the medal winner’s event along with the full Chinese name of the Games. The rings on the back are carved much shallower than the rings on the front, again reminiscent of ancient Chinese pendants. The Paralympic medals will utilize the same designs, just with the Paralympic logos and names.