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Some Olympic medals will come from outer space

On Feb. 15, 2013, a meteor entered Russian air space and crashed into Chelyabinsk. Nearly 1,500 people were injured after the blast from the impact broke so many windows. It left behind a reminder of its impact with pieces of meteor sprinkled over Chelyabinsk.

On Feb. 15, 2014, Russia will be in the middle of hosting the Winter Olympics. Any medals awarded that day will have chunks of the meteor embedded in them.

“We will hand out our medals to all the athletes who will win gold on that day, because both the meteorite strike and the Olympic Games are the global events,” Chelyabinsk Region Culture Minister Alexei Betekhtin said, according to R-Sport.

Host cities and countries are known to leave their mark on the medals handed out. Beijing's medals used jade, a stone identified with China. Lilliehammer, Norway's gave medals of sparagmite in 1994. The stone is native to Scandinavia.

Seven medals will be awarded on the 15th of February, with medals in events in Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, skeleton, ski-jumping and speedskating. Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn is expected to compete that day, so she could home with a super-special meteor medal.

Thanks, Olympics Talk.

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