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World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024
Medal Design
Oldmangrey goes for gold!
In early July 2023, I responded to an open call to design the medal suite for the 19th World Athletic Indoor Championships, taking place in Glasgow in March 2024 (WICGlasgow24), the first time they would be taking place in Scotland. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) delivering the Championships asked artists to submit up to two proposals for the design of the medals and their ribbon.
I was delighted when, at the end of July 2023, I was confirmed as the chosen designer for the Championships’ medals, with up to 108 of them due to be awarded to top athletes across the three-day event.
Initial Submission
The LOC requested that submissions incorporated the look and feel of the event branding, had an iconic Scottish twist with links to Glasgow, and created the wow factor for athletes and spectators. It was also important to keep in mind several conditions for the size, finish, storage, and wearability of the medals.
To develop my initial thinking, I sought inspiration from athletics and athletes, references of Glasgow and its unique charm, plus previous sporting event medal designs.
I used this research to sketch out initial rough design ideas on the iPad Pro , working in Procreate to take different elements from the inspiration images that met the brief parameters.
I considered which of these potential designs could be progressed further; those which focussed most on reflecting the event branding and the charm of Glasgow. I submitted two designs, along with three options for the ribbon, as shown below.
Initial design submission option 1
Initial design submission option 2
Design Amends
Once I was the chosen as the designer for the WICGlasgow24 medal suite, the LOC provided some feedback to create the final design. I was pleased to hear they liked aspects of each design! And so they asked me to take elements from both of my initial proposals; to include the track lines from design one, the elements of the iconic Glasgow skyline from design two, and to include the event wording.
I drew up the below design, and this was then tweaked again, to ensure the medal could be shaped as accurately as possible during production and to allow more space for the wording.
Final Design
Once the medal producer, Toye, Kenning & Spencer Ltd, was appointed, we waited to hear whether any amends were required in relation to feasibility of creating the medals; however, this was all signed off and the design progressed to production. The final artwork and 3D render of the face and reverse of the medals are shown below.
The medals were unveiled by the WICGlasgow24 on 5th February 2024 , at an event attended by young rising talent athletes from Scotland, Olympian and event ambassador Eilidh Doyle, and three other Scottish athletics legends, Allan Wells, Yvonne Murray-Mooney, and Tom McKean. I was also invited to the unveiling event, but unfortunately couldn’t make it due to a clash with a holiday, but was delighted to see photos of my medal design come to life.
I’m so proud to say these medals were awarded to winning athletes at the 19th World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March 2024. As part of working on this project, Nic and I were invited through to the first night of the Championships, to watch events including the Women’s High Jump Final and the Men’s 60 Meters Final. It was incredible to see athletes at the top of their game, and to see my medals being awarded to the well deserved winners at the medal ceremonies.
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Image copyright @europeanathletics on Instagram
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Read more here about the 19th World Athletics Indoor Championships that took place in Glasgow in March 2024!
Image Copyright Gibson Digital.