What is inside the cardboard box medal winners get at the 2024 Paris Olympics? A look at the first-time Olympic award

By Marie Amani

Modified Jul 31, 2024 19:36 GMT

2024 Paris Olympics have already taken shape with some events being concluded and podium finishers not only being given medals but also a golden box. Curious fans have been thrown into a state of jeopardy, wondering what the mystery box contains.

Rugby, some swimming events, and the gymnastics team events are some competitions already concluded at the Olympics with all the podium finishers from Team USA women’s all-around squad to the French national men’s rugby team being handed the box.

As per the International Olympic Committee, the box, which is approximately 40cm, has the official poster for the Paris Olympics. The poster was designed by Ugo Gattoni who reveled at the rare opportunity to work with the International Olympic Committee. However, the task was daunting for Gattoni who claimed to have taken four months and 2000 hours to create it.

"The first time Joachim contacted me was via the internet in June 2023, to ask me to create the official posters. I was very flattered, honored!" Gattoni told Olympic.com.

After being selected to make the Olympics poster, Gattoni explained that he already had a plan and he was of the idea of the Paris stadium. In his fantasy stadium, he added buildings and other outstanding landmarks in Paris including the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine.

The Olympics poster has the Olympic rings and medals. In the design, Gattoni added sports like swimming to ensure he came up with something iconic.

The director of design at the Olympics Joachim Roncin in an interview with the IOC media noted that he was after creating a story for the Olympics.

"I wanted to tell the story of Paris 2024 so that there would be an overview of the entire project, to take sport out of the sporting arenas," he disclosed.

"I wanted the poster to tell countless things, to be full of symbols. There are many small details, they’re stories within the stories," Roncin added.

As per the Olympic Museum, the Paris Olympics poster is not a new invention since they have existed since immemorial.

Meanwhile, on top of the poster in the golden box, the podium finishers at the Olympics will be awarded a mascot plush toy, as per Olympics.com. The medals awarded to athletes are special since they contain an 18-gram hexagonal piece of iron picked from the Eiffel Tower.

Paris Olympics organizers to offer no prize money to athletes

Paris Olympics organizers will not offer prize money to medallists- Source: Getty

As has been the tradition, the Paris Olympics organizers will not give prize money to the athletes who win medals in the global showpiece.

However, some nations and federations have pledged to award their athletes. World Athletics became the first federation to declare a prize money structure for gold medallists at the Paris Olympics.

World Athletics noted that they would include the silver and bronze medallists. The International Boxing Association joined World Athletics in offering prize money to their athletes.

Countries like Singapore and Hong Kong are the countries awarding their podium finishers the highest prize money in the world. The USA, Spain, and the host nation France will also award podium finishers at the Olympics. Other countries will offer incentives like cars, and houses.