Olympic Medal Composition, Paris 2024 Gold, Silver, Bronze

Key points from the graphic

A Paris 2024 gold medal weighs 529 grams but holds only 6 grams of gold. The rest is 505 grams of silver and 18 grams of iron.
The silver medal is 507 grams of silver and 18 grams of iron, 525 grams in all.
The bronze medal is 415 grams of copper, 22 grams of zinc and 18 grams of iron, 455 grams in all.
Every medal carries the same 18 gram hexagon of iron from the Eiffel Tower, set in the centre of the face.
According to the graphic, 5,084 medals were made for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Paris 2024 Olympic medal compositions in text

Title: Paris 2024 Olympic medal compositions. Compound Interest logo, top right.

Intro text: Each of the 5,084 Paris 2024 Olympic medals contain an embedded hexagon of iron from the Eiffel Tower. This iron comes from scrap metal left over from renovations and repairs to the Tower since its original construction in 1889.

The graphic shows the three medals on blue ribbons, each with a dark grey hexagon in the centre bearing the Paris 2024 emblem. Under each medal is its mass and a stack of element tiles giving the symbol, name and weight in grams. The silver medal column adds: The iron content of each medal is found solely in the embedded hexagon.

Medal	Mass (graphic)	Elements (graphic)	Share by mass (our arithmetic)
Gold medal	529 g	Silver (Ag) 505 g; gold (Au) 6 g; iron (Fe) 18 g	Silver 95.5%, gold 1.1%, iron 3.4%
Silver medal	525 g	Silver (Ag) 507 g; iron (Fe) 18 g	Silver 96.6%, iron 3.4%
Bronze medal	455 g	Copper (Cu) 415 g; zinc (Zn) 22 g; iron (Fe) 18 g	Copper 91.2%, zinc 4.8%, iron 4.0%

The graphic gives grams only; the percentage column is our arithmetic from those grams.

Footer: www.compoundchem.com. © Andy Brunning/Compound Interest 2024. Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.

Why the gold medal is mostly silver

Olympic gold medals have not been solid gold for more than a century. Wikipedia’s article on Olympic medals says the gold medals of 1904 to 1912 were made of solid gold, and that under the International Olympic Committee’s rules a gold medal must be at least 92.5% silver and plated with 6 grams of gold [3]. The Paris medal follows that pattern: the 6 grams of gold in the graphic is a plating over 505 grams of silver. Leaving out the iron, that is about 98.8% silver and 1.2% gold, close to the 98.8% silver and 1.13% gold that Wikipedia gives for the Paris gold medal [2].

The silver medal uses the same silver base without the gold plating, which is why it weighs almost the same as the gold medal. The bronze medal swaps precious metals for copper and zinc, which makes it about 70 grams lighter than the other two.

The Eiffel Tower hexagon

Wikipedia’s Paris 2024 medal table article says Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet presented the Olympic and Paralympic medals in February 2024, that about 5,084 medals were produced by the French mint Monnaie de Paris, and that they were designed by the Paris jewellery house Chaumet [2]. Both sets carry the iron hexagon [2]. Compound Interest’s article adds that the medals let winners take home a piece of the Eiffel Tower, and lists Olympics.com and Investing News Network reports as its references [1].

Notes on this infographic

Bronze medal metals. The graphic lists copper and zinc only. Wikipedia describes the Paris bronze medals as copper, zinc and tin [2]. We have not seen an official breakdown that settles which is right, so the graphic’s figures are given as printed.
Where the iron came from. The graphic says the iron is scrap left over from renovations and repairs since 1889. Wikipedia describes it as scrap iron taken from the original construction [2]. Both describe original Eiffel Tower metal removed during later work.
Medal count. The graphic says “Each of the 5,084 Paris 2024 Olympic medals”. Wikipedia gives approximately 5,084 medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games together [2].
Grammar. “Each of the 5,084 … medals contain” is printed as shown; “contains” would be standard.

Questions about Olympic medal composition

What is the composition of Olympic medals?

At Paris 2024, according to Compound Interest, the gold medal was 505 g silver, 6 g gold and 18 g iron; the silver medal 507 g silver and 18 g iron; and the bronze medal 415 g copper, 22 g zinc and 18 g iron [1]. The IOC rule described by Wikipedia is that gold medals must be at least 92.5% silver with 6 g of gold plating [3].