Paralympics Open Wednesday: What the Medal Tells You Up Close ♿

The Paris 2024 Paralympic medals share the Eiffel iron inlay but add three Braille dots in the metal — gold gets one, silver gets two, bronze gets three. Accessible design as a feature, not an afterthought.

Braille Dots Cost Almost Nothing

Adding 1–3 raised dots to a medal die costs the factory nothing extra — the dots get etched into the master alongside the rest of the design. For any inclusive sport event you support (Special Olympics, school adaptive programs, Para-Asean Games qualifiers), specifying tactile rank markers from the start is free. The signal it sends is enormous.

Ribbon Texture Helps Too

Beyond the medal itself, paralympic-style ribbons can carry tactile patterns — woven stripes, embossed edges, knotted accents — that communicate medal tier through touch. Cost is comparable to standard satin. Worth proposing to any organization running adaptive or mixed-ability events; once you do, going back to plain ribbon feels careless.