The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Sochi unveils medals for Olympics

By Korea Herald

Published : May 31, 2013 - 20:04

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ― Sochi organizers unveiled the medals for the 2014 Winter Olympics ― and now hope to make sure most of them stay in Russia to make up for the miserable medal performance at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Organizers presented the medals featuring a “patchwork quilt” design representing the different regions of Russia, which will be hosting its first Winter Games next February in the Black Sea resort.

One of the first to get a close up look at the medals was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who inspected them during a visit to the SportAccord conference and a lunch meeting with International Olympic Committee officials.

A record 1,300 medals are being manufactured for the Olympics and Paralympics. The medals depict the sun’s rays reflecting through a prism of snowy mountains and sandy beaches.

“We’ll try to keep all these medals in Russia, especially the gold ones,” Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

Russia wants no repeat on home turf of what happened in Vancouver, where it recorded its worst ever performance at the Winter Games. In Canada, Russia won only 15 medals and finished 11th in the table.

The results led to the ouster of four key executives in the nation’s Olympic program.