Olympic medals get facelift

The gold, silver and bronze medals got a major makeover for the Athens Olympics, a redesign that's unique, Greek and even a little chic.

The gold, silver and bronze medals got a major makeover for the Athens Olympics _ a redesign that's unique, Greek and even a little chic.

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For the facelift, the first for a summer games in 76 years, organizers asked artists to submit proposals that included two distinctly Greek elements: a depiction of Nike, the goddess of victory, and the Panathinaikos, the horseshoe-shaped stadium in Athens where the first modern Olympic games were held in 1896. Ever since the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928, Nike had been shown on the medals, seated on a chariot with a wreath in one hand and an ear of corn in the other, symbolically honoring winning athletes. Next to the goddess was usually a stadium that looked a lot like a Roman amphitheater _ not surprising since the designer was an Italian, Giuseppi Cassioli.

The medals had changed little since, though in recent years, the flip sides usually showed the individual logos that were designed by the host cities.

The winning design for the Athens medals was submitted by Elena Votsi, a renowned Greek artist who has designed jewelry for Gucci and has boutiques in town and on the island of Hydra. Cassioli's interpretation of the myth involving Nike was "a mistake," Votsi said in an interview with The Associated Press. "According to the myth, she never sits," said Votsi, who has a master of arts degree in metalwork and jewelry from London's Royal College of Art.

Her design has a winged, almost angelic Nike boldly swooshing down feet-first from the heavens, delivering the laurel in the Panathinaikos stadium, the all-marble venue for archery and the finish line of the marathon later this month. Her Nike is based on a marble statue by the sculptor Paionios of Chalkidiki from 421 B.C. In the background of the medal is the Acropolis; above Nike's head are the Olympic rings and the Greek words, "28th Olympiad Athens 2004."

"It had to be Greek, the front side of the medal, because the Olympics started here, because we have to think about the history," Votsis said.

On the medal's flip side, there's more Greek and more tradition. The Olympic flame burns from a cauldron in front of the opening line of Pindar's eighth Olympic Ode in ancient Greek writing. The translation reads: "O Mother of Gleaming Crowns of Contest, Olympia, Queen of Truth."

"I wanted to use the Greek letters, because they gave us such ideas as 'philosophy' and 'democracy,"' Votsi said. Above it is the Athens 2004 logo.

"It's just a beautiful model. It's something unique," said Athens organizer Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, no stranger herself to fashionable jewelry and impeccably tailored suits. Votsi said she does not follow sports but does draw inspiration from them, and will attend the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the main Olympic stadium. In the latter race, she could see her artwork draped around the neck of countryman Costas Kenderis, the defending Olympic champion.

"Of course, I always admire the work of athletes, the way they work for a few seconds, and all that effort, all that work _ fantastic!" she said.

Although the back of the medal will change at future Olympics, the International Olympic Committee decided to keep Votsi's design of Nike on the front for years to come.

American Jim Greensfelder, the co-author of "Olympic Medals: A Reference Guide," likes the fact that the Athens medals will have a new design. In fact, he favors the styles of medals used in the winter games, where there has been no standard medal and host cities have used highly individualistic styles with little or no images of mythology.

"The designs have been unique and have gotten more and more attractive," said Greensfelder, who counts among his favorites the medals from Nagano, Japan, in 1998, which featured a hand-painted flower design, and Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, which had a chunk of stone mined from the ski jump site.

As the opening ceremony approached this week, Votsi remained astonished that her designs will be hanging around the necks of the world's greatest athletes.

"Even now ... it is difficult to imagine. It is the biggest honor. It is something fantastic!" she said.