THE 150-gram metal discs that encapsulate the dreams of thousands of athletes preparing for the Beijing Olympics were unveiled yesterday to mark the start of the 500-day countdown to the opening of the event.

The gold, silver and bronze medals incorporate a distinctive band of jade and a double-dragon loop for the lanyard to thread through, and are slightly bigger than those of previous Games.

The medals are 70 millimeters in diameter and 6 millimeters in thickness. On their obverse side, the medals adopt the standard design prescribed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) — a drawing that represents the winged goddess of victory Nike and Panathinaikos Stadium, where the Olympic Games was revived in 1896, while on their reverse side, the medals are inlaid with jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved in the metal centerpiece.

“This elegant design represents a combination of Chinese culture and the Olympic spirit,” Jiang Xiaoyu, vice president of the organizing committee, said.

The design was picked from 265 entries submitted from all over the world and 6,000 medals will be produced for the Games, which will start Aug. 8, 2008.

The IOC has strict stipulations relating to the medals. The medals for the winner and the runner-up are made of pure silver, and the champion’s medal must be plated with gold weighing not less than 6 grams.(SD-Xinhua)