The medals for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were unveiled on Wednesday with exactly one year to go until next year’s Games. Tokyo unveils Olympic medals made from recycled electronics. 

The event was attended by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe said that sports bring the world together and it affords equal opportunities to all. That is what sports are about. Tokyo have hosted Olympics fifty-five years ago.

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games said it has sourced small electronic devices from all over Japan to create 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals for Tokyo 2020 Medal Project.

Tokyo 2020 had first announced it would be making the medals out of recycled electronics way back in February 2017, asking the public to donate their old or unwanted phones.

Gold, silver, and bronze were extracted from the phones, with the same method used in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Tokyo 2020 said that they hope that their project to recycle small consumer electronics and their efforts to contribute to an environmentally friendly and sustainable society will become a legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games. These medals symbolise the energy of athletes, as well as the diversity of the games. While they are brilliant, they signify the warm glow of friendship.

The medals, which are 85 millimeters in diameter, feature Greek goddess of victory Nike in their design along with the Olympic symbol and are made from recycled metals, collected from 6.21 million electronic devices donated across Japan. The medal cases are being created by Japanese craft workers keeping a blend of traditional and modern techniques.

In another effort to infuse its culture into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japanese artists are also countries re- creating flags of countries participating in the event as anime characters, though the project is not officially affiliated with the games as of now.