With the 2026 Winter Olympics just days away, excitement is building as the world gears up to witness the pinnacle of winter sports. Around 3,500 athletes from more than 90 countries are expected to travel to northern Italy to compete at Milano Cortina this month.

The ultimate prize for these athletes is, of course, the gold medal. Silver and bronze medals are also hard-earned symbols of achievement, carrying both prestige and personal significance.

Beyond their symbolic value, Olympic medals also have measurable worth in the metals they contain — an aspect worth considering given how much commodity prices have risen over the past year.

What are Olympic medals made of?
Each Olympics features a unique medal design that reflects the host city’s culture and identity. For Milano Cortina 2026, the medals feature a split design, representing the partnership between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

According to the official Milano Cortina website, the medals are crafted by the Italian State Mint using recycled metals and renewable energy. Each medal type contains a distinct metal composition: silver for silver medals, copper for bronze, and — surprisingly — gold medals are primarily silver.

Per International Olympic Committee (IOC) specifications, each gold medal contains approximately 500 grams (16.1 troy ounces) of .999 fine silver and 6 grams (0.19 troy ounces) of .9999 fine gold. Silver medals contain the same amount of silver, while bronze medals are made of about 410 grams of copper.

How much are they worth?
Even with a slight pullback from recent highs, gold, silver, and copper prices remain above levels seen at any previous Winter Games.

Using current market prices — roughly $4,800/oz for gold, $80/oz for silver, and $13,000 per tonne for copper — the intrinsic value of a gold medal comes to about $2,212. Silver medals are worth around $1,286, and bronze medals are valued at roughly $5.46.

This year, 735 Olympic medals (245 sets of gold, silver, and bronze) are expected to be awarded, along with 411 medals for the Paralympic Games, totaling 1,146 medals across both competitions. At today’s prices, the combined intrinsic value of all medals exceeds $1.3 million.

While these figures fall far short of the emotional and symbolic significance of an Olympic medal, they underscore the enduring value of metals like gold. By comparison, during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a gold medal was estimated at around $736, based on gold prices of $1,900/oz and silver at $23/oz.

At current rates, the intrinsic value of a gold medal has roughly tripled since then, highlighting both the rising price of precious metals and the timeless appeal of Olympic achievement.