The medals for the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The medals that will be awarded at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 were unveiled on Sunday, marking the one-year countdown to the Opening Ceremony, and they have some special features never before included on the hardware athletes take home.
The medals will incorporate indents on their sides — one for gold, two for silver and three for bronze — as well as Tokyo 2020 spelled out in Braille on their faces, allowing visually impaired athletes to identify the medals by touch.
According to the Tokyo 2020 organizers, the design of the medals is centered 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.”
Depicted on the fan are rocks, flowers, trees, water and leaves to symbolize Japan’s “captivating and life-giving natural environment.”
The medals are manufactured from recycled precious metals taken from cell phones and small electronics that have been donated by the public.
The Paralympic Torch Relay uniforms, medal ribbons and medal cases were also unveiled at Sunday’s one year to go event, which was attended by around 25,000 people in Yoyogi Park. The medal ribbons will include convex silicon dots on the back to also indicate the type of medal, and the wooden cases are individually handcrafted.
Tokyo will be the first city in history to host the Paralympics twice.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.