Memorable bouquets in Olympic history

In Olympics past, gold, silver and bronze were not the only colours handed out at the podiums. During the medal ceremonies, athletes were also presented with commemorative bouquets featuring multi-hued flowers and foliage. But that extra pop of colour will be missing at the Summer Games in Paris.

While a vibrant dahlia was bred especially for the Paris Olympics, it will be seen in gardens, not bouquets. Paris 2024's goal is to cut the carbon footprint of the Games in half compared to previous Olympics. As part of those efforts, handing out thousands of short-lived bouquets to podium finishers was weeded out of the program. 

A lot of thought went into the meticulous arrangements that feature prominently in podium photos of the past. Once the designs were approved by the International Olympic Committee, plant orders were placed to make sure everything was grown on time. Dozens upon dozens of bouquets were assembled before the first events had even begun — a boon for the florists chosen for this important task. 

The bouquets had to meet a few criteria, including being fragrance-free and able to withstand temperature fluctuations (especially for the Winter Games). The flowers also couldn't bruise easily and needed to be able to live without water for at least a couple of days. The floral gifts often incorporated symbolism related to the host city and, as you'll see, Paris isn't the first to do away with fresh flowers. 

Here's a look at some of the bouquets from the history of the Olympic Games.  

1896 Athens Games

In ancient Greece, wreaths and branches were awarded at both sporting and musical competitions. Historical records show that Olympic champions were given wreaths made from olive branches taken from a sacred tree that grew near the temple of Zeus in Olympia.

When the Games were revived in Athens in 1896, first-place winners received an olive-branch wreath; those who placed second were given one made from laurel branches. 

1908 London Games 

After the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the 1908 Olympic Games — originally planned for Rome — were moved to London. A bouquet of oak leaves was awarded to the medallists. In England, oak trees are considered a symbol of strength and endurance.

1984 Los Angeles Games

Conroy's, a Los Angeles flower shop, was awarded the task of creating the 1984 Olympic bouquets. The florist included an orange bird of paradise flower surrounded by daisies, yellow orchids and purple liatris. 

1996 Atlanta Games

The bouquet for the 1996 Olympic Games was designed by florist Mary Jo Means and is commemorated in a poster that you can still purchase online. Five flowers were chosen, likely to echo the five Olympic rings. The blooms included sunflowers, cockscomb, tiger lilies, larkspur and tuberose, symbolizing loyalty, immortality, pride, swiftness and love, respectively. The arrangement also incorporated leaves from magnolia, laurel, leucothoe and olive trees.

2000 Sydney Games

The large, bright-red waratah flower, native to Australia and the state flower of New South Wales, was the prominent bloom of the 2000 Olympic Games. According to Jamie Creer, the managing director of the Australian Flower Company at the time, the flower almost didn't bloom in time for the Games due to a cooler-than-usual spring. He only found out three days before the Olympics were to begin that the flowers would be ready. The bouquets also included billy buttons, waxflowers, flannel flowers, kangaroo paws and white oak, all from different regions of Australia.

2004 Athens Games

It was fitting that olive branches were used for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, harkening back to those first international competitions. Several olive farms on the island of Crete provided the branches to make 5,513 wreaths, with some farmers claiming their trees were thousands of years old. African daisies, tansies, sea lavender and goldenrod completed the bouquets. 

2010 Vancouver Games

I wrote about the bouquets conceived for the 2010 Olympic Games for the now-defunct Canadian Gardening magazine. At the time, I interviewed florists June Strandberg of Just Beginnings Flowers in Surrey, B.C., and Margitta Schulz, owner of Margitta's Flowers in North Vancouver. 

Quik's Farm Floral Shop in Chilliwack, B.C., grew about 10,000 green chrysanthemums for the centre of each bouquet. These were surrounded by hypericum berries, leatherleaf, aspidistra leaves and monkey grass for an all-green arrangement. The finished bouquets were tied with a blue bow.

Strandberg, who died in 2022, ran a floral design program for women with barriers to employment to help them start on a new path. Trainees were part of the production line putting the bouquets together.

2012 London Games

The design for the chic bouquets of the 2012 Olympic Games was conceived by Susan Lapworth, a florist at Jane Packer in London. The flowers and herbs in the bouquet were grown in the U.K. and assembled by floristry students across the country. Pink, yellow, orange and green roses were tightly gathered with rosemary, apple mint, lavender and wheat.  

2016 Rio Games

In the name of sustainability, the 2016 Olympic Games did away with flowers at the medal ceremonies, a decision that was met with mixed reviews. Instead, a small sculpture of the Rio Games' three-dimensional logo was given to the podium winners. 

2020 Tokyo Games

Many of the flowers used in the bouquets for the 2020 Olympic Games were grown in areas hit by the disastrous Tohoku earthquake in 2011. Sunflowers were planted on a hill in Miyagi, a prefecture north of Tokyo, by parents whose children had perished there after seeking safety from the ensuing tsunami. Blue gentian flowers matched the colour of the logo for the Tokyo Games and were grown in Iwate prefecture, where more than half of these flowers originate in Japan. The lisianthus was from Fukushima prefecture, where a nuclear accident occurred after the earthquake. The aspidistra leaves in the bouquets were grown right in Tokyo. 

2022 Beijing Games

The 2022 Olympic Games also took a lower-carbon direction and opted for knit flowers over the live versions. Li Meili, who was 70 at the time, used a traditional Shanghai wool-knitting technique to create her winning design. Knitting groups in several cities across China spent roughly 50,000 hours crafting the required roses, lilies, olives branches and other blooms for 1,251 bouquets.