The world is getting ready for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and exactly one year before the 2020 Olympic games begin, the organising committee has revealed the medals that would be distributed to the winners of various sporting events.
However, what's fascinating about these medals is the fact that they're made from materials derived from old gadgets. This is specific to the metals used in the CPUs, GPUs and other elements from computers, smartphones, and other electronic gadgets.?
Image Courtesy: Reuters
In April 2017, the organizing committee started a two-year "Everyone's Medal" campaign that asked people to donate their old electronic devices to make these medals. The campaign received a positive response as the IOC received nearly 80,000 tons of gadgets in total, which included around 6.21 million phones.
The medals were designed by Junichi Kawanishi, who got this opportunity after winning a competition against more than 400 professional designers and design students.
The medals have an 85mm diameter with the thickness varying from 12.1mm to 7.1mm. Speaking about the Gold medal, it is made entirely out of pure silver, however, it receives 6 grams of gold plating. For the Silver medal, the designer has used pure silver. The bronze on the other hand, are made using a red brass alloy made up of 95-percent copper and 5-percent zinc.?
Image Courtesy: Reuters
According to the International Olympic Committee, the medals are mandated to have the classic Olympics five rings symbol, the official name of the games as well as the engraving of the Greek goddess of victory 'Nike' in front of the Panathenaic stadium.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are expected to be truly tech-centric. Only yesterday, Toyota revealed that it'll bring five robots to help the players and spectators on the field. Moreover, reports in the past have revealed that the entire Olympics event is set to be powered by renewable energy.
Which means the electricity will be generated from only renewable sources like wind and solar, for both the main event and the Paralympics, as well as the athletes' village, international broadcasting centre, and the main press centre.
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