Organisers today unveiled the official medals for the IAAF World Championships London 2017.

Lying within the shape of an athletics track, both sets of medals made public today, those for the IAAF World Championships and for the World Para Athletics Championships, are layered with symbols of every event for each schedule, an intricate design that bears resemblance to the inner workings of a watch.

With London the historical home of Greenwich Mean Time, the medals for the IAAF World Championships also feature iconic London landmarks that sit on the River Thames – Tower Bridge, the London Eye, the Shard and Big Ben – to give a strong sense of location.

The medals were designed by Birmingham-based Toye, Kenning & Spencer who asked themselves “What makes an athlete tick?” when creating the medals. Founded in 1685, Toye, Kenning & Spencer have a proud history, holding a royal warrant and being commissioned to manufacture the medal presented to serving personnel in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

European and Commonwealth silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers, coach of Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, Toni Minichiello, and five-time Paralympic medallist Dan Greaves were all part of the creative panel that fed into the medal design process.

"I loved being part of the panel," Sawyers said. "It was something that I have never done before and such a unique experience to see what goes into making the medals for a World Championships. It is great that organisers wanted input from athletes and coaches.

"Long jump is all about getting your timing right," Sawyers added. "If you get your run up just right and hit the board at exactly the right time you can land a big jump. That is what I will be aiming to do this summer and I can’t wait to hopefully be a part of an amazing World Championships."

"The IAAF World Championships London 2017 is going to be a fantastic event and that organisers are recognising the coaches of medal-winning athletes with a medal for the first time too is a great progressive step," said Minichiello.

"A coach works very closely with athletes and it’s important to understand what makes them tick. It is great to see that element being applied to the medals. At a big event like a World Championships, mindset and good decision making at the right time makes the difference between being successful and not."

"You don’t need too much motivation going into a home World Championships but being part of the panel and having helped to choose such great medal designs really does make you want to win one," said Greaves.

"I really like how my event, the discus, is represented along with all the other disciplines. As an athlete, a lot of hard work and time goes into winning medals and it is great to see that element of time reflected in the design."

The biggest sporting events in the world in 2017, the World Para Athletics Championships kick off the Summer of Athletics from 14-23 July with the IAAF World Championships following at the London Stadium from 4-13 August.

"We are very proud of the unique medal designs for both the World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships London 2017," said Niels de Vos, Championships Director. "It isn’t easy to demonstrate so much on a medal but Toye, Kenning & Spencer have done a fantastic job with a design that carries such a great message."

Hamish Ritchie, Account Manager at Toye, Kenning and Spencer, said: “For us as a company it was massive honour to be chosen to design the medals. It has been a while since we have worked on such a large scale international event like this and it is really nice to have that support.

"(Organisers) wanted something that was made in Britain entirely. We have the factory in Birmingham and the factory in Bedworth were the medal ribbons are manufactured. For us to be able to manufacture everything here, with our own manufacturing capabilities is fantastic."

IAAF World Championships London 2017 LOC for the IAAF