PATH OF THE VICTOR
Winter Youth Olympic Games 2024
The design of this medal tells a story. It is the story of the evolution of the Olympic athlete through five core values: commitment, consistency, sacrifice, patience and hard work. This story is represented on the medal in a clockwise narrative, starting from the top. This narrative is told through the petals of the Mugunghwa [Hibiscus Syriacus], to render homage to the Republic of South Korea, through its national flower.
Construction, isolation, area and minimum size.
One ring is equal to twelve times the thickness of a ring. The space between two rings is equal to the thickness of one ring. The isolation area corresponds to 1/4 the diameter of a ring. The isolation area must be free from any element and no other element should overlap the Olympic rings. For a composite logo (a design associating the Olympic rings with another logo), the isolation area is defined by 1/2 the diameter of a ring. The additional clear space ensures that the two entities are clearly separated and do not look like a single combined logo. The Olympic rings should appear no smaller than 8 millimetres or 30 pixels wide.
Five petals.
Five values.
Five Olympic rings.
First, the athlete must be committed to his passion. The lines are dashed, but become longer as the commitment increases. Second, the athlete must learn to be consistent in their training. The lines are continuous. Third, the athlete must sacrifice many aspects of their lives to shape and mould their bodies and spirit to the requirements of their discipline. The zigzag lines represent hardship. Fourth, through patience, the athlete starts to flow with their sport and become proficient. The athlete and their sport become one, sharing the same wavelength as they synchronise. Finally, through hard work, the individual becomes a perfect athlete, an Olympian, symbolised with a circle.
The medal's design blends harmoniously these values, by representing the athlete's journey in geometrical shapes inspired by winter sports (snow, ice, water, ski marks and snow tracks). The lines on the first petal are thin, symbolising the fragility of the beginner athlete. Through the journey (and each petal), the lines gain weight to represent confidence and mastery of the discipline. Finally, while there are many athletes competing against you (represented by the five lines), in the end, there is only one circle standing by itself; the victor.
