Vancouver (pps/November 3, 2009) The medals to be awarded at the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada (February 12-28, 2010), will be among the heaviest in the history. The Organising Committee VANOC disclosed that the medals in gold, silver and bronze weigh – depending on the medal – between 500 and 576 grams, they are 100 millimetres in diameter and about six millimetres thick.
The medals feature designs of Canada’s Aboriginals and are in part hand-made. The artwork was created by the Vancouver artist Corrine Hunt, whose heritage goes back to the Canadian Komoyue and Tlingit nations. A total of 615 medals will be coined by the Royal Canadian Mint. At least three complete sets of medals will be awarded in the first week of the Winter Games in luge: in the men’s and women’s singles as well as the double-seater events.
