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JULY 2012
95
QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES (BOUDIA); LOCOG VIA GETTY IMAGES (MEDALS)
Designs
on the
Prize
Meet this year’s medals,
created by British artist
David Watkins with help
from the British Museum
The front of an Olympic Games
medal always depicts the same scene:
Nike, the Greek goddess of victory,
departing Athens’ Panathinaiko
Stadium for the host city. But the
back of the 2012 Olympic Games’
version will feature Watkins’
particular conception, which
has five symbolic elements:
1
A background
with a bowl-like
shape meant to
evoke an amphi-
theater
2
A jewel-like
emblem, the
logo of the
London Games,
meant as a
metaphor for
the Modern City
3
A grid
radiating energy
to signify
cohesiveness
and outreach,
representing the
athletes’ efforts
4
In the background, the
River Thames as a symbol
of London and a celebratory
element (as it resembles a
fluttering baroque ribbon)
5
An inscribed square that
contrasts with the circularity of
the medal and reaffirms a focus on
the center, giving a sense of place
as a map inset might
1
2
4
3
5
ONE TOWATCH
DAVIDBOUDIA
DIVING
Note to whoever is in charge of
marketing the sport of diving
to the public: Please make the
names of the dives cooler.
For instance, 16-time U.S.
national champion David Boudia
has a dive in his arsenal that
boasts the highest degree of
difficulty in the world. Its name?
The 109C. His favorite dive? The
207B or the 5255B. We appreci-
ate that diving is a very precise
sport, but suspect that there are
rooms in science labs with more
colorful names.
Such quibbles aside, Boudia,
who just turned 23, is poised
to impress at the London Olympic
Games. In 2011, the Noblesville,
Ind., native won the silver medal
in the 10-meter at the FINA
World Championships, becoming
the first U.S. man to medal in that
event in 25 years.
A communications major at
Purdue (where he won NCAA
Diver of the Year three times),
Boudia occasionally works as a
motivational speaker when he’s
not training, talking to kids about
the importance of staying healthy
and active.
As for those dive names,
maybe a big showing at the
Olympic Games could get the
207B—a.k.a. the backward three-
and-a-half-somersault pike—a
new handle: “The Boudia.”
URUGUAY
10
BAHAMAS
10
PHILIPPINES
9
ARMENIA
9
LIECHTEN-
STEIN
9