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Sydney Marathon medals mistakenly engraved with German stadium
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway /Sports

Sydney Marathon medals mistakenly engraved with German stadium

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • Sydney Marathon organizers mistakenly engraved a German stadium on finisher medals instead of the correct local venue.
  • The error, which depicted Munich's Allianz Arena instead of Sydney's Allianz Stadium, was noticed by observant followers on social media.
  • Despite the blunder, organizers will distribute the medals as is, with a spokesperson calling it an

Sydney Marathon organizers have admitted to a "pinlig tabbe" (embarrassing blunder) after engraving the wrong stadium on finisher medals for the upcoming event. Sharp-eyed followers quickly spotted that the stadium depicted on the medals was not Sydney's Allianz Stadium, but rather the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

The German stadium is known for its distinctive facade of thousands of diamond-shaped, inflatable cushions, a stark contrast to the flatter facade with long bronze fins characteristic of Sydney's Allianz Stadium. The only similarity was the name.

A little too much international flavor has ended up on the back of the finisher medal, with an incorrect depiction of the stadium.

โ€” Sydney Marathon spokespersonAcknowledging the engraving error on the finisher medals.

A spokesperson for the Sydney Marathon acknowledged the mistake, telling the BBC, "A little too much international flavor has ended up on the back of the finisher medal, with an incorrect depiction of the stadium." The spokesperson called it "an unfortunate error."

It's a beautiful medal, and now a bit more unique.

โ€” Sydney Marathon spokespersonCommenting on the decision to distribute the incorrectly engraved medals.

Despite the mix-up, organizers have decided to proceed with distributing the medals as they are to runners next Sunday. "It's a beautiful medal, and now a bit more unique," the spokesperson added.

Even Allianz Arena in Munich saw the humor, posting on Instagram, "Oops, we didn't have that on our bingo card!" Other Sydney landmarks, such as the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, are correctly depicted on the medal. The reverse side was designed by Indigenous artist Ambrose Killian, who confirmed to the BBC that he was not responsible for the incorrect stadium engraving. Approximately 40,000 runners are expected to participate in the marathon on August 30.

Oops, we didn't have that on our bingo card!

โ€” Allianz Arena MunichReacting to the news of their stadium being mistakenly featured on the Sydney Marathon medals.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.