BRATISLAVA – Ten days before the start of the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia (April 29 to May 15) the organizers have presented the gold, silver and bronze medals that will be awarded to the best three teams.

“My task was to create an original and interesting medal which translates the spirit of hockey, connects everyone during the championship, and this not only through dominant national themes,” explained Martin Zlejsi, the designer of the medals.

“The inspiration for me was chiefly the Olympic medals from the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 which are of various shapes, materials and finishes,” he added.

“We decided to take advantage of the option to create the design for the medals. We believe the medals will be popular. Their weight is also heftier than in the previous years,” said Igor Nemecek, the chairman of the organizing committee.

The medals weigh about 220 grams, the diameter is 70 mm and the width of the ribbon is 30 mm.

The base material is brass Ms90 (90% Cu, 10% Zn), and they are galvanized in a casing of precious metal - 1st place with pure gold (layer thickness: 0.5 microns), 2nd place: pure silver (layer thickness: 10 microns) and subsequently modified by polishing and patina coating into their final finish.

The medals feature engravings on their surfaces in the shape of hockey sticks. The medal ribbons (Slovak tricolour situated asymmetrically on the left side on a white background) is specially woven for this purpose only and feature a moiré pattern surface finish that resembles watermarks.

The overall shape of the front of the medal is a stylized letter S for Slovakia. The two hockey sticks on the surface are the prime element of the 2011 IIHF World Championship logo. The entire surface of the medals - scratched ice - is another original feature of the medals. The IIHF Logo, the hockey player in the foreground with a victorious gesture and the lettering are embossed, high-sheen and unscathed.