The Secret Ley Lines Of The Olympic Gold Medal

M@
By M@ Last edited 152 months ago
The Secret Ley Lines Of The Olympic Gold Medal
The medal lined up over the Thames.
The medal lined up over the Thames.
A 50% fade, showing the overlay.
A 50% fade, showing the overlay.
The map with medal absent. Red dots represent the vertices and centre of the triangle, blue dots are the corners of the rectangle.
The map with medal absent. Red dots represent the vertices and centre of the triangle, blue dots are the corners of the rectangle.

Has anyone else noticed that the newly revealed Olympic gold medal appears to be covered in mysterious lines and geometric patterns? Having grown up on a diet of Alan Moore and (early) Iain Sinclair, we could only jump to the conclusion that the winning design contains a hidden map of Olympic ley lines – routes of energy connecting important locations.

The medal features a prominent representation of the River Thames. Lining this up with its counterpart on a Google map allows us to deduce where the corners of the triangle and square patterns fall. Note, the alignment is approximate, and what follows is open to a certain amount of wiggle room.

There's clearly something going on with the triangle. Look, the top vertex sits pretty much on top of the Olympic stadium. The bottom-right corner, meanwhile, is very close to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, where shooting events will take place. The final corner is harder to descry. It's South of the Old Kent Road, in the Queen's Road area. Perhaps a nod to the monarch in her jubilee year? The centre of the triangle falls close to the O2, which will host several events under its temporary guise as the North Greenwich Arena.

The medal design also contains a mysterious box. Artist David Watkins describes this as 'an almost metaphysical square'. But what does it signify? A sensible reading would suggest that its boundaries enclose most of the London-based Olympic venues, including the main park, Greenwich, Excel and the O2. But, given his comment, is there more to it?

The top-left corner falls on Meath Gardens, south of Roman Road. Top right is Upton Park, home of West Ham who will move into the Olympic stadium after the Games. Bottom right is positioned on Shooters Hill. And bottom-left is down in Peckham. Hmm, we can't think of any Olympic connections with most of these, but let us know if you can find a link. A Masonic handshake for the best suggestion.

Last Updated 28 July 2011