2010 Olympic Medals Raise Eyebrows

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are three months off, and yesterday we got our first glimpse at the newly designed medals. First impressions? Well, they're different. Very different. So different, in fact, that people aren't quite sure what to make of the look.

(More photos after the jump.)

As Yahoo.com's Chris Chase writes, "The gold medal looks like it belongs in a bowl of potato chips at King Midas's house." But there is an explanation for the unique look.

The medals of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are circular in shape and based on a large master artwork of an orca whale by Corrine Hunt, a Canadian designer/artist of Komoyue and Tlingit heritage. Each of the medals has a unique hand-cropped section of the abstract art, making every medal one-of-a-kind. ...

The medals ... each feature a different crop of larger contemporary Aboriginal artworks and are undulating rather than flat - both firsts in Games history.

That clears up a lot, and it's a fantastic idea. I'm just not sure about the execution. Then again, nobody cares what I think; there's a better chance the IOC retroactively gives Chicago the 2016 Olympics than there is of me ever winning a medal.

So whether it looks like the traditional oversized coin or Pringles, it's not really my concern. And let's be honest: if you're lucky enough to win a 2010 Olympic medal, I'm pretty sure you'll be willing to overlook the new design.