The Olympic medal designed to be shared

These medals designed by Philippe Starck split into four pieces, allowing winning Olympic athletes to share their success with their families, friends or fellow athletes. Having previously designed the Olympic Torch in 1992, Starck was asked to create a new medal concept as part of France's bid to host the Games in 2024. On the surface, the design appears rather typical, however, should the athlete want to, they can split the disc into three additional sections.

Starck explains: “Today, more than ever, the truth is that you're not winning alone, so I wanted this medal to reflect that. If the winner wants to share it, they can share it. It's a really nice way of truly showing team spirit. The winner can literally take his or her medal and separate it into pieces to be given away.”

He also feels that the design will allow athletes to share their Olympic success for the first time “in the very moment it happens.” He added: “This medal has something very special about it. Because normally a medal tends to be a sort of witness, a message that says 'I was there, I did it, I outdid myself. I went beyond myself, I won.’ This way, everyone you share it with becomes a witness of such an important moment.”

Should the Paris Olympic bid be successful, Starck's design would be presented at the Games in 2024, after the upcoming Toyko Olympics have taken place in 2020. For the Tokyo medals, Olympic organisers are reportedly considering mining Japan's vast repositories of e-waste for millions of discarded smartphones and computers. Partly recycled materials were also used for the medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The silver and bronze medals were made of 30 per cent recycled metals, while half of the plastic in the ribbons came from recycled bottles.

Starck is one of the best-known names in design still working today. His best-known pieces include the iconic Louis Ghost chair, Gnome stool and Juicy Salif citrus squeezer. Last year, he also designed his first smartphone, created a minimal summer sandal collection for Brazilian brand Ipanema, and added three eau de toilettes to his extensive catalogue of products.