The presentation of the Olympic and Paralympic medals, which will be awarded at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, took place in St. Petersburg Thursday during the 11th "SportAccord" Annual Int'l Sports Convention. The Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic medals feature the Sochi 2014 "Patchwork Quilt" -- a mosaic of national designs from the various cultures and ethnicities of the Russian Federation. The medals depict the landscape of Sochi from the sun's rays reflecting through the snowy mountain tops onto the sandy beaches of the Black Sea coast. The front of the medal features the Olympic rings. The reverse contains the name of the competition in English, and the logo of the Sochi 2014 Games. The official name of the Games in Russian, English and French is engraved on the medal's rim. The Sochi 2014 Paralympic medals were designed in the same style. One side of the medals features the Paralympic symbol (three hemispheres, "agitos"); the reverse features the logo of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and the name of the competition in English (Sochi 2014). R-SPORT reported the metal-polycarbonate Sochi medals "were designed by four Russian designers working for the U.S.-based Leo Burnett advertising agency." Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko said, "I'm sure they will find lots of Russian owners. But I wish all foreign competitors well too" (R-SPORT, 5/30). The AP reported Chernyshenko said that Russia's medal performance will be crucial to the success of the games. Chernyshenko: "We refrain from making medal forecasts, but the atmosphere of the games will be affected by the performance of the team" (AP, 5/30).
