2026 Winter Olympics: Metals price rally pushes value of medals above $1.3M

With the 2026 Winter Olympics just days away, anticipation is building as the world prepares for another showcase of the elite winter sport. Around 3,500 athletes from more than 90 countries are set to travel to northern Italy and compete at Milano Cortina this month.

The ultimate prize, of course, is the gold medal awarded to the winner of each event. The silver and bronze medals, too, will be hard-earned prizes in their own right.

While to the athletes Olympic medals may be priceless, sentiment aside, their value is also measured by the metals they contain.

Given how much metal prices have rallied over the past year, calculating their intrinsic value is worth a closer look.

What are Olympic medals made of?

For each Olympics, the medals are redesigned to make them unique to the host cities. Milano Cortina 2026 features a split design, reflecting the partnership between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

According to the official Milano Cortina website, the 2026 medals are crafted by the Italian State Mint, using recycled metals and renewable energy. Each type of medal contains a distinct metal composition — silver for silver medals and copper for bronze. Surprisingly, the gold medal is predominantly made of silver, not gold.

Based on design specifications released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), each gold medal is expected to contain 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 as gold medals, while a bronze medal contains about 410 grams of copper.

How much are they worth?

Despite a sharp pullback from record highs last week, gold, silver and copper are still trading at levels higher than during any previous Winter Games.

Based on current market prices — around $4,800/oz for gold, $80/oz for silver and $13,000 per tonne for copper — a gold medal would have an intrinsic value of about $2,212, while a silver medal would be worth roughly $1,286. A bronze medal’s value, by comparison, is estimated at just $5.46.

During this year’s event, a total of 735 Olympic medals (245 sets of gold, silver and bronze) are expected to be awarded, along with 411 medals for the Paralympic Games, bringing the total to 1,146 medals across both competitions.

At current prices, the combined intrinsic value of all medals would exceed $1.3 million (see table).

While this figure falls well short of capturing the true significance of an Olympic medal, it highlights the enduring role of metals such as gold as stores of value. For comparison, during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a gold medal was estimated to be worth around $736, based on a gold price of $1,900/oz and silver prices near $23/oz at the time.

At today’s prices, the intrinsic value of a gold medal has therefore risen by roughly threefold.