The Commonwealth Games 2026 will begin in Glasgow, the capital of Scotland, from Thursday 23 July. More than 3000 athletes from more than 70 countries are reaching Glasgow to participate in these games. This time the games are smaller than before because different events are being organized in only 10 sports. But whether there are 10 events or 20, every medal won in the Games has the same importance. Especially winning a gold medal is the biggest achievement. But do you know that the gold medal for which players work so hard is not made entirely of gold?
This is a question which has been asked for years and will continue to be asked in future too. This is because with every new game, a new young generation sees, reads and understands them for the first time. In such a situation, the question arises whether gold medals, silver medals or bronze medals are actually made of these metals? So let us give you the answer to this also.
Is gold really gold?
No matter what the games are, whether they are Commonwealth or Asian Games or the biggest Olympic Games, all the gold medals won in all these events have real gold embedded in them. That means real gold is used in those medals. But the most important thing is that the entire medal is not made of gold, rather 92.5 percent of this medal is made of sterling silver i.e. a special kind of silver and at least 6 grams of gold is used.
This is because making medals of pure gold is not only very expensive but there is a possibility of the shape of those medals getting spoiled. In case of silver the medal remains solid. Then a layer of pure gold is placed on it. This gives the medal the shine and presence of gold and also maintains its shape. However, there is no such requirement in silver and bronze medals. The silver medal is made entirely of sterling silver and the bronze medal is entirely made of bronze.
Where were the Glasgow Games medals made?
Now if we talk about the value of the gold medal, it is not certain. The value of the medals in the Glasgow Games has not been disclosed. The price of medals varies in every Games because it depends on the metal rate at that time and the size and weight of the medal. But reports say that generally it costs Rs 1 to 2 lakh to make a gold medal. The medals made for the Glasgow Games have been designed by Militsa Milenkova, a Glasgow-based designer. These have been manufactured by the crafts agency ‘Toy, Canning and Spencer’ of Birmingham, England.
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