Old Gold: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medals to Come From Recycled Phones, Cameras

The design of the Tokyo medals, which organizers say will be the first recycled medals in the history of the games, will be unveiled later this year

Tokyo Olympic organizers said last week that they expect to collect enough obsolete electronic devices by the end of March to reach the amount that will be required to manufacture all Olympic and Paralympic medals.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics open in under 525 days and all medals will be made from discarded smart phones, digital cameras, and other handheld games and laptops.

In a statement last Friday, organizers said targeted amounts of bronze, silver, and gold will be extracted from the discarded devices with quotas expected to be reached by March 31.

The design of the Tokyo medals, which organizers say will be the first recylced medals in the history of the games, will be unveiled later this year.

"Not only do the athletes inspire with their stories, but each medal itself has a story of its own," said gold medal-winning American decathlete Ashton Eaton in a statement shared by the 2020 Games.

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