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双语阅读 | 奥运会的金牌是用什么做的？

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What Are Olympic Gold Medals Made of?

奥运会的金牌是用什么做的？

What Are Olympic Gold Medals Made of?

王淑怡 供稿

The top three finishers (in most cases) of each Olympic competition are awarded the gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. While the name seems to imply it, Olympic gold medals are not 100% gold. At one time the prize given to the first-place finisher in each competition was solid gold, but now Olympic gold medals are made mostly from silver. For that matter, the second-place silver medals aren't always 100% silver either, though they do contain the same amount of silver as the gold medal. As for the third-place bronze medal, it is made of exactly what its name claims.

每届奥运会的前三名（通常情况下）分别被授予金牌、银牌和铜牌。话虽如此，但其实金牌并非都是用纯金铸造的。最初，奥运冠军的金牌确实是纯金的，但现在主要由银制成。至于说第二名获得的银牌也不都是由纯银制作的，但它们确实和金牌具有相同的含银量。只有第三名的铜牌是“名副其实”的。

Composition

金牌的成分

The specific composition and design of Olympic medals is determined by the host city's organizing committee. However, minimum standards must be maintained:

奥运会奖牌的设计和制作，历来都由主办城市的组委会负责。但是，必须满足以下标准：

Gold and silver medals are at least 92.5% silver.

Gold medals must be plated with at least 6 grams of gold.

All Olympic medals must be at least 3 mm thick and at least 60 mm in diameter.

金、银牌至少含有92.5%的银；

金牌至少要镀金6克；

奥运会各奖牌的直径不得小于60毫米，厚度不得小于3毫米。

The silver medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics had a purity of 99.9%, according to Olympic.org. A gold medal was a silver medal plated with 6 grams of gold, while the bronze is made of an alloy of 90% copper and 10% zinc.

根据国际奥委会官网的数据，2018年平昌冬奥会的银牌纯度为99.9%。金牌实际是一枚镀有6克黄金的银牌，而铜牌则是由90%的铜和10%的锌的合金制成的。

Other Awards

其他奖品

Gold, silver, and bronze medals have not always been awarded. In the original Greek games, a wreath of olive leaves taken from a tree near the temple of Zeus was placed on the victor's head.

其实，金银铜牌并不是在奥运会举办之初就设置的。在最初的希腊运动会上，从宙斯神庙附近的一棵树上摘下的橄榄叶被织成花环，戴在获胜者头上作为奖励。

When the first modern Olympics were held in Athens in 1896, the first-place winners were awarded silver medals, since silver was more sought-after at the time. The runners-up got bronze medals. The winners at the 1900 Paris Olympics received trophies instead of medals.

1896年，第一届现代奥林匹克运动会在雅典举行时，冠军获得的是一枚银牌，这是因为银在当时更受青睐。亚军则获得铜牌。1900年在巴黎奥运会上，获胜者获颁的不是奖牌，而是奖杯。

The custom of awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals started at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The last Olympic gold medal that was made from solid gold was awarded in 1912 in Stockholm. After that year, the gold medals have been gilded silver rather than solid gold.

颁发金银铜牌的惯例始于1904年的圣路易斯奥运会，而最后一届使用纯金金牌的奥运会则是1912年的斯德哥尔摩奥运会。从那以后，奥运会金牌就再也没有使用过纯金打造了，而是使用镀金的银奖牌。

Eco-Friendly Medals

环保奖牌

The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics featured most eco-friendly metals with the gold free of mercury contamination. Mercury and gold are notoriously difficult elements to separate. The sterling silver used for the silver medals was partly recycled (about 30% by mass). Part of the copper used to make the bronze for the bronze medals was recycled as well.

2016年的奥运会在巴西里约举行，这届的奖牌被誉为最环保奖牌。金牌中的黄金在提炼过程中没有使用汞。众所周知，汞和金在提炼工序中难以彻底分离。用于制作银牌的纯银部分被部分回收（约占总质量的30%），用于制造铜牌的部分铜料也得到了回收。

The gold medals for the Tokyo Olympics, designed by Japanese designer Junichi Kawanishi, comprise roughly 6 grams of gold atop roughly 550 grams of pure silver. Since gold and silver rates, like stock prices, fluctuate frequently, the value of the medal isn’t exactly static. But in general, it’s hovering somewhere above $800. A silver medal, made of 550 grams of pure silver, comes in at $462; while the bronze medal, mostly copper and a little zinc, is worth just a few bucks.

东京奥运会的金牌由日本设计师川西纯市操刀设计，约重550克的纯银奖牌上镀有约重6克的纯金。由于黄金和白银的价格和股票价格一样，波动非常频繁，因此奖牌的价值并不是一成不变的。但总体而言，金牌价值在800美元左右（约合人民币5181元）。一枚由550克纯银制成的银牌价值约为462美元（约合人民币2992元）；而铜牌，主要是由铜和少量的锌制成，只值几美元一块。