Medalists to receive hand-knit bouquets at sustainable Olympics

The athletes will receive the cashmere posies when they make it to the podium in Beijing.

As a part of Beijing’s efforts to run sustainable Olympics, the traditional bouquets distributed to medalists on the podium will be hand-knit cashmere alternatives to cut flowers.

The idea is to provide the athletes with something long-lasting that they can bring home and keep.

Organizers in Beijing revealed this component of their sustainable Olympics strategy when they recently unveiled the details of the medal ceremonies. They will not only include the knit bouquet of cashmere flowers but will also have a customized mascot gift. This is in addition to the medal, of course.

The cashmere bouquets will be made of six knit versions of six real flower types. These include roses, Chinese roses, hydrangeas, lilies of the valley, olive branches and laurel. A news release from organizers discussing the medal ceremonies said that the flowers selected were chosen to represent friendship, tenacity, unity, happiness, peace and victory.

These bouquets are meant to support the sustainable Olympics efforts the city is making overall.

Organizers of the Beijing Games described special uniforms that will be worn by the medal presenters throughout the ceremonies. There are three separate costume sets that include jackets, self-heating thermal underwear, hats, gloves and boots. The type that will be worn by the presenters will be based on the various applicable competition venues. For instance, a design based on the “snow” and “clouds” Chinese traditional symbols will be worn for the medal ceremonies for snow sports.

Aside from the medal ceremonies, organizers have announced several other efforts being made to use clean energy such as hydrogen fuel buses. Beijing has announced that its target is to hold carbon-neutral Winter Games, though it has faced substantial criticism based on the amount of pollution the city has emitted immediately before the games as well as regarding how the successful achievement of that goal is being measured.

 

Whether the sustainable Olympics reach their green targets, the Games will have brought considerable clean energy technology to Beijing and the surrounding region, providing the opportunity for an ongoing carbon emission reduction in the area.

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