2024 Paris Olympic, Paralympic medals unveiled with Eiffel Tower pieces

Every 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic medal is encrusted with a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower.

"By placing fragments of the Eiffel Tower at the center of its medals, Paris 2024 hopes to leave athletes with an unforgettable memory of the Games, of Paris and of France," according to Paris 2024.

Organizers unveiled the medals Thursday, less than six months out from the July 26 Olympic Opening Ceremony. The Paralympics open Aug. 28.

Each of the 5,084 medals includes a central 18-gram, hexagonal piece of iron that was once part of the Eiffel Tower, which was completed in 1889.

They came from pieces of the tower that were removed during 20th century renovation work and preserved. For the medals, the pieces were embossed with the Paris Games logo.

"For the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel is giving these veritable pieces of the history of Paris and France a second lease of life," according to Paris 2024.

Chaumet designed the medals, becoming the first jeweler to do so.

The hexagon is an ode to the shape of France, a nation that is sometimes called "L'hexagone."

The other side of the Olympic medals features the traditional Nike, goddess of victory, Athens' Panathenaic Stadium, where the Olympics were revived in 1896, and the Acropolis. For Paris 2024, the Eiffel Tower was added opposite the Acropolis.

The other side of the Paralympic medals includes "Paris" and "2024" written in braille, which was invented by Frenchman Louis Braille.

The Eiffel Tower will figure prominently during the Olympics.

The Opening Ceremony, the first to be held outside of a stadium, will be a parade of boats on the Seine with a grand finale at the Trocadéro, which is directly across the river from the tower.

Beach volleyball will be held in a temporary stadium set in front of the Eiffel Tower.