Paris Olympics Medals Feature Eiffel Iron

The medals awarded at this year's Paris Olympics and Paralympics will feature a hexagon-shaped piece of iron taken from the original Eiffel Tower in their center, organizers said as they unveiled the design.

All 5,084 gold, silver and bronze medals for the Paris Games will feature the six-edged metal medallion which will be set like a gemstone in the design by elite French jewelry house Chaumet.

"We wanted to offer to all medal winners at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics a piece of the Eiffel Tower from 1889," said the head of the local organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, at a televised ceremony.

They will be "a combination of the most precious metals from the medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- with the most precious metal in our country, from this treasure that is the Eiffel Tower," he explained.

The design by Chaumet, whose creations have adorned aristocrats and the affluent since 1780, also features a circular arrangement of ridges intended to catch the light and evoke the sun's rays.

The iron hexagon -- a shape which echoes the contours of mainland France -- is held in place by six spurs on each corner which are intended to resemble the rivets used on the Eiffel Tower.

The metal was taken from a Paris warehouse used to stock offcuts by the operating company which maintains the 330-meter landmark, known affectionately as the "Old Lady" in France.

Medal design is a key part of each Games' aesthetic, along with the logo, mascots and opening ceremony.

Since 2004, the back of all medals show the Greek goddess Nike flying into the historic Panathinaikos stadium in Athens, site of the original Olympic Games of antiquity.

Paris organizers squeezed a concession from the International Olympic Committee, enabling them to slightly alter the design to add an Eiffel Tower to the scene.

All the metal used in the Paris medals, which weigh around half a kilogramme, has been recycled.