PARIS — A piece of the Eiffel Tower is reportedly expected to be embedded in each gold, silver and bronze medal to be hung around the necks of winning athletes at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

According to an article from The Associated Press, Games organisers revealed their revolutionary design on Thursday.

AP News says the iron pieces embedded in the centre of the Olympic medals each weigh 18 grams (about two-thirds of an ounce) and were cut from girders and other bits that were swapped out of the Eiffel Tower during renovations and stored for safekeeping.

According to Joachim Roncin, head of design at the Paris Games organising committee, “the concept came after a few discussions. We realised that there’s one symbol known across the world, which is the Eiffel Tower.”

“We said to ourselves, ‘Hey, what if we approached the Eiffel Tower Operating Co. to see if it’s possible to get a bit of the Eiffel Tower to integrate into the medal…the company agreed, and ‘the dream became reality.’ It’s really a bit of metal from the Eiffel Tower,” Roncin said.

AP News said the iron pieces were stripped of paint, polished, varnished and stamped with “Paris 2024” and the Games logo. The five Olympic rings are also stamped on the iron of the Olympic medals.

Medals for the Paralympic Games will also adopt a similar design.

According to the AP article Paris is the only host city to include chunks of a famous monument.

“Having a gold medal is already something incredible. But we wanted to add this French touch and we thought that the Eiffel Tower would be this cherry on the top,” Roncin said.

“Having a piece of it is a piece of history.”