What's in That Mysterious Box That Olympic Medalists Receive on the Podium?

What's in the box?! What's in the boooox?!

No, we're not quoting that scene from Seven (or actually yes we are, but that's besides the point). We're really just trying to figure out what's in the box that Olympic medalists are given at the podium.

That's right — we're talking about those mysterious rectangular boxes that medalists receive after they've won big.

Well, let it be a mystery no more, as we delve into its secrets...

What is in the box that Olympic medalists receive?

You may have noticed while watching the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris that when athletes receive their medals, they're also given a long, rectangular box that contains a map to Treasure Island. (Kidding.)

It actually contains something pretty cool, though.

Inside the box is a gorgeous poster designed by French illustrator Ugo Gattoni . And there are actually two versions of the poster — one for the Olympics and one for the Paralympics — which can be combined together to make one seamless piece of art, but also work independently of each other.

According to the Olympics website , Gattoni put 2,000 hours of work into the beautiful pieces, which he worked on in his studio from September 2023 to January 2024. And you'll be happy to know that there was no AI involved , with everything created manually, which is why you can see such incredible details on each character in the crowd.

Gattoni also said he hid eight mascots within the posters. So if you're in the mood for a fun challenge, go ahead and see if you can try to spot them all! And in the meantime, if you want to buy a poster for yourself (and you're not in France, where you'll be able to find them in some stores and at the Musée d'Orsay), you can order online at the Olympic Shop website .