The Medals of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games

As unique as the world's top athletes and their awe-inspiring performances, every medal won at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be a one-of-a-kind work of art.

Each medal features a different crop of larger contemporary Aboriginal artworks and is undulating rather than flat - both firsts in Games history.

Internationally renowned Canadian industrial designer and architect Omer Arbel, also of Vancouver, used his extensive knowledge of materials and fabrication processes to create the innovative undulating design of the medals, which are struck nine times each to achieve the distinctive look as part of the 30-step medal fabrication process.

The Organizing Committee asked Hunt and Arbel to join their creative talents together on the medals project after they submitted separate designs proposals that both contained compelling elements.

VANOC received 48 medal design ideas from across Canada and internationally after issuing a request for proposals in December 2007.