Willing Olympic athletes have were presented with a mystery gold box on Day 1 (Reuters)
With the Olympics now underway, the medals are being handed out for the winning athletes of Paris 2024.
But fans have noticed that during the medal presentation, athletes are also given a long gold box while they’re on the podium.
Whether they win gold, silver or bronze, Olympic medallists are traditionally given gifts during the victory ceremonies.
At Tokyo 2020, athletes received a small bouquet of yellow, green and blue flowers. At Rio 2016, medallists were presented with a small model of the official logo. Meanwhile, London 2012 also opted to give flowers to those on the podium.
What’s in the box for Olympic medallists in Paris?
Paris 2024 have opted to go for something completely different as inside the gold box is the Games’ ‘Iconic Poster’, specially created for this summer’s competition.
Paris 2024 organisers called on Ugo Gattoni create the special ‘Iconic Poster’ for the Games.
Gattoni is renowned worldwide for his style which is marked by fantasy and surrealisms, and includes both huge and tiny details in his work.
The Paris-born artist spent more than 2,000 hours across six months to produce the designs for the posters.
Winning athletes at Paris 2024 are also awarded a special ‘medallist mascot’ at the Olympic Village (IOC)
But the prizes do not end there for the winning athletes as they are also presented with a ‘medallist mascot’ after the ceremony when they return to the Olympic Village.
Paris 2024 collaborated with Doudou et Compagnie Group to design a special medallist version of the Phryges.
The gold, silver and bronze colours are featured on the medal emblem which is sewn on the mascot’s belly, on its shoes and on the letters spelling out ‘Bravo’ on the back.
Paris 2024 president, Tony Estanguet – an Olympic gold medalist in canoe slalom, said of the mascots: ‘We chose an ideal rather than an animal.
‘We chose the Phrygian cap because it’s a very strong symbol for the French Republic. For French people, it’s a very well-known object that is a symbol of freedom.’