These are what will bring thousands of the World’s top sportsmen and women to London next summer –the chance of winning an Olympic medal.

And they are a step closer to the dream as the medals go into production, at the Royal Mint headquarters in Llantrisant, South Wales.

The mint has brought together a specially selected team of designers, technicians and craftsmen who have been testing and refining the minting process to ensure every medal produced meets highly exacting specifications.

They will produce around 4,700 medals which will be awarded during the 805 Victory Ceremonies taking place at venues across the UK during the Games.

It takes around 10 hours in total to complete, each medal will be struck 15 times with 900 tonnes of weight on a special press.

After each first five strikes the medals are slowly rolled through a 750 degree furnace to soften the metal allowing the designs to be replicated perfectly.

Designs were unveiled earlier this year.

Adam Lawrence, Royal Mint Chief Executive, said: “We are immensely proud and honoured to be able to strike the Olympic and Paralympic medals.”