Sydney Unveils Its Marathon Medal — and Munich Has Somehow Joined the Course

Medal route, amended by error

The medal was designed to celebrate Sydney and the marathon route. Among the landmarks engraved into its cityscape were unmistakably local sights including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

There was also a stadium.

Unfortunately, it was approximately 16,000 kilometres too far north-west.

The structure appearing on the medal was not Sydney's Allianz Stadium, which runners pass on the marathon course. It was the considerably more distinctive Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany — home of Bayern Munich.

The two venues share a naming sponsor. Architecturally, however, confusing one for the other requires considerably more imagination.

Once the medal was made public, runners and observers began noticing the mismatch. The organisers subsequently confirmed that an incorrect stadium had been depicted, describing the mix-up as an “unfortunate error.”

There was another complication: the medals already existed.

With race day only days away and more than 40,000 participants expected, organisers announced that the medals would not be replaced. Finishers completing the marathon on 30 August would receive them as produced. The organisation chose instead to embrace the mistake, describing the medal as now being a little more unique.

One distinction matters. Indigenous Australian artist Ambrose Killian contributed the artwork used for the medal's front and lanyard. He said he had no involvement with the reverse-side cityscape where the Munich stadium appeared.

Thus thousands of runners travelling to Sydney to complete 42.2 kilometres will receive a souvenir of the city containing the Opera House, Harbour Bridge — and, apparently, a brief architectural excursion to Bavaria.