Medals unveiled for 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

More medals than ever before are being produced for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Organizers of the event say they hope to avoid the disastrous outcome of the previous Winter Olympics by keeping as many of those 1,300 medals right there at home.

“We’ll try to keep all these medals in Russia, especially the gold ones,” Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Thursday as the coveted items were unveiled the SportAccord International Convention in St. Petersburg.

Russia had its worst-ever winter showing during the 2010 Vancouver Games, winning just 15 medals and finishing 11th in the table. Four key executives in the nation’s Olympic program were fired as a result.

Instead, the Russians hope to emulate the 2010 success of Canada, which won the most gold medals (14) ever for a country at a Winter Games.

The medals feature a patchwork quilt design representing Russia’s different regions. The front also features the Olympic rings, while the back has the Sochi logo as well as the name of the competition in English. The official name of the Games is engraved on the rim in Russian, English and French.

The medals are 0.4 inches thick and 4 inches in diameter, with the gold ones (gold-plated, actually) weighing 16 ounces.

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