What’s Really in a Gold Medal

An Olympic gold medal is practically silver if its composition is analyzed.

The gold medal is mostly made of pure silver, with only the surface plated with gold. The Olympic Charter says the gold medal will be of silver of at least 925-1000 grade and be gilded with at least six grams of pure gold. The medal should be at least six centimeters in diameter and 0.3 centimeters thick. Gold medals used in the Asian Games are no different.

Medals were first awarded in the 1908 Olympics in London. Since the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the front side of every medal has featured Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and the back side has a creative design of the host country. Presenters have put medals around the necks of athletes since the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

A foreign report recently said China has begun manufacturing medals in Shanghai for this year’s Beijing Olympics. The medals will include not only metal but also jade for the first time, and about 6,000 medals will be made over the next six months.

hic@donga.com