Design
The design is centred around the motif of a traditional Japanese fan, depicting the Paralympic Games as the source of a fresh new wind refreshing the world as well as a shared experience connecting diverse hearts and minds. The kaname, or pivot point, holds all parts of the fan together; here it represents Para athletes bringing people together regardless of nationality or ethnicity. Motifs on the leaves of the fan depict the vitality of people’s hearts and symbolise Japan’s captivating and life-giving natural environment in the form of rocks, flowers, wood, leaves, and water. These are applied with a variety of techniques, producing a textured surface that makes the medals compelling to touch.
Braille letters spell out “Tokyo 2020” on the medals’ face. A series of circular indentations on the side of the medals – one for gold, two for silver, three for bronze – make the medal types easy to distinguish by touch, the first time in Paralympic history that this provision has been made for athletes with a vision impairment.
As part of the Tokyo 2020 Medal Project, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medals are being manufactured from recycled precious metals extracted from mobile phones and other small electronic devices donated by the public.
Specifications
Weight (without ribbon or pin)
-Gold: about 526g
-Silver: about 520g
-Bronze: about 430g
Thickness
-Thinnest point: 7.5 mm
-Thickest point: 10.7 mm
Diameter
-85 mm
Composition
-Gold: over 6 grams of gold plating on pure silver
-Silver: pure silver
-Bronze: red brass (95% copper, 5% zinc)
Medal designer
Sakiko Matsumoto
-Designer, Hakuhodo Products, Inc.
Video
Ribbon
Medal case design
Source: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
