2010 Olympic Medals Made From Old Electronics

[MoUsE-WiZ]

Even now I think of them as the filler Olympics that are just there to help pass the time between one Summer Olympics and the next.

That's ok. Living in Canada I feel (almost) the same way about the summer Olympics and we even win a handful of medals at those.

 

[marcusmurphy]

[citation][nom]HibyPrime[/nom]Can you imagine how many gold plated connectors went into making all those gold medals? Jesus.I have no idea where they would get the silver and bronze from though...[/citation]
Actually, because of the RoHS directive, the finish on many circuit boards is immersion gold over nickel or immersion silver over nickel. And copper is used heavily for the traces in the layers, especially aerospace or military boards.

 

[Guest]

Eh, I can appreciate them wanting to be creative, but it really just looks like someone beat the medals with a hammer. I think a flat design would have been nicer.

 

[zipz0p]

@ zpyrd:

Pure gold and silver are rather soft. They would be too soft to hold form reliably, and would deform to even rather gentle scratches. This is not really a thing to make a legacy of - alloys are better. As an aside, where do you think these "pure" elements come from? What is the difference if the end result is a pure element anyway? Who cares if it came from some silly old socket? Gold is Au is gold.

 

[belardo]

They should have 4th place... made of tin.

 

[Pei-chen]

Pure PR crap. Most metals are recycled and have been for the last few thousand years. There are some studies that suggest some 90+% of gold ever extracted are still in circulation because it cost a lot more to mine than to recycle.

The aluminum coke can is made from recycled material; your car is made from recycled steel; your computer parts will be melted down in China or somewhere to extract the metals.

Canada is just trying to take the lead in "being environmentally friendly". Canadian actually uses more electricity per person than American because they refuse to cut back on driving and heating their oversized house.

 

[vault_dweller]

Pei-chen

Have you ever been to Canada buddy. It is beautiful and pristine. It's also big and it has extreme temperatures (+45C/+113F in the the summer and -50C/-58F in the winter). So of course we spent more on electricity and gas. We also spend more money are road maintenance and car maintenance. I have been recycling since the late 1980's. Of course, since the majority of Americans are completely ignorant of Canada and the rest of the world for that matter, I found myself irritated yet completely unsurprised by your comments. I travel throughout North America several times a month, perhaps you should get out more.


r0x0r - Very clever, your overclocking had me in stitches. LOL

 

[cookoy]

is the first image that of the bottom side of the medal while the second image is of the top side? the medal looks weird. maybe that's because i'm used to seeing the traditional coin shapes. The Winter Olympics are not that well-publicized compare to the Summer Games. i can only recall Lake Placid and Sarajevo. Nothing else comes to mind.

 

[ominous prime]

Loving the new design, almost looks like I can peel back the gold and get at some delicious chocolate.

 

[city_zen]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Our record is woeful. We were stripped of our only medal in 2004 (show jumping) because the horse was on drugs.[/citation]

Truly hilarious!

 

[eddieroolz]

I'm personally not a fan of the design but I do appreciate the sustainability theme.

Only four more months till I get two weeks off university and watch the game live!

 

[CoryInJapan]

I really live those wavy metals.Dope

 

[Guest]

Check more carefully. An Olympic gold medal only needs to have 0.21 ounces of gold, usually just gold plating.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]city_zen[/nom]Truly hilarious![/citation]

The best part is we returned in 2008 for the same event and were thrown out before it began. Why? Pony drugs, YAY!

 

[Guest]

Wow, cool if were true.
For real information on the medals, check the 2010 website: http/www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/meet-the-medals_170520rk.html .

"Teck Resources Limited, a Vancouver-based mining, mineral processing and metallurgical company, is supplying the 2.05 kilograms of gold, 1,950 kg of silver and 903 kg of copper used in the production of the medals. The metals were sourced from Teck’s operations in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Alaska, Chile and Peru."

I still want to try overclocking one... (thanks r0x0r)

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]Canuckshuk[/nom]Wow, cool if were true. For real information on the medals, check the 2010 website: http/www.vancouver2010.com/olymp [...] 520rk.html . "Teck Resources Limited, a Vancouver-based mining, mineral processing and metallurgical company, is supplying the 2.05 kilograms of gold, 1,950 kg of silver and 903 kg of copper used in the production of the medals. The metals were sourced from Teck’s operations in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Alaska, Chile and Peru."I still want to try overclocking one... (thanks r0x0r)[/citation]

Canuckshuk, I got the information from the press release Vancouver2010 sent out.

Specifically,

“Our employees worldwide are honoured to supply the metals for the medals that will be cherished by the world’s best winter athletes in 2010,” said Teck’s president and CEO, Don Lindsay. “We’re also excited that these medals will contain recycled metal recovered from end-of-life electronics, consistent with the sustainability philosophy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

 

[ryushin]

awesome design and very cool of them to reclaim the materials from old electronics!

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Canuckshuk, I got the information from the press release Vancouver2010 sent out.Specifically,“Our employees worldwide are honoured to supply the metals for the medals that will be cherished by the world’s best winter athletes in 2010,” said Teck’s president and CEO, Don Lindsay. “We’re also excited that these medals will contain recycled metal recovered from end-of-life electronics, consistent with the sustainability philosophy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”[/citation]
Based on that I'd assume it is a mix, otherwise they probably couldn't get the colour right

 

[caskachan]

can they run crysis¿

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]zpyrd[/nom]I think it is insulting to award an athlete who trains most of their life to be the best at their sport with a piece of garbage.It says the Olympic committee are too cheap to award medals made of pure gold, pure silver and bronze.[/citation]
Besides being very harsh and insulting, I think you're also wrong. I'm no athlete, but if I were, the feeling of accomplishement, recognition and knowing that I'm the best in the world in my discipline would beat any medal, recycled or not. The medal itself is just a symbol of that accomplishment.