Beijing organizers took possession of the 3,000 medals for next month's Olympics in a ceremony near Tiananmen Square on Thursday, 36 days before the start of the Games. The medals were the first for an Olympics to be designed by the winners of a public competition and each has a distinctive inlay of jade, which represents beauty, nobility, perfection and power. “These exquisite medals represent the ultimate expression of athletic achievement,” organizing committee vice president Jiang Xiaoyu said. “The unique design represents the ambition of the Beijing Olympic Games.” Jiang also took symbolic possession of the 3,000 medals for September's Paralympics from Australian mining company BHP Billiton, which sponsored the medals for both Games. The metal – 13.04kg of gold, 1,340kg of silver and 830kg of copper – came from the company's mines in Australia and Chile, while the jade was sourced in China. China's Gao Min, who won diving gold at the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics, said she thought the medals were more beautiful than those of previous Games. “It is the dream of every athlete to win a medal at the Games,” she said. “My Olympic medals represent the biggest honor of my lifetime and I cherish them.”
