Share
Arkady Burdan doesn't know UNC Charlotte art professor Jamie Franki – but he sure knows his work.
Burdan is a renowned fencing coach who trains Atlanta fencer Sada Jacobson, a silver medalist in the individual saber at the Beijing Olympics. With Marial Zagunis (gold medalist) and Duke-bound Becca Ward (bronze), she was part of a historic American sweep in that event.
The three fencers were the first Americans to win medals. So their coaches – Burdan and Ed Korfanty of Portland, Ore. – were the first U.S. coaches ever to receive the Order of Ikkos Medallion, a new honor created by the U.S. Olympic Committee for coaches of American medalists.
Here's where Franki comes in. He designed the Ikkos medal that will be handed out to winning Olympic and Paralympic coaches for as long as the Games are played.
Franki's design, created in his Concord studio, was chosen in March from 24 applicants. Named for Ikkos of Tarentum – the first recorded Olympic coach – the antiqued nickel medal weighs 1.25 pounds. It shows an athlete handing his or her coach an Olympic torch, representing the guidance coaches impart on athletes. Franki's wife, Penny, was the model for the athlete's arm.
“I wanted to create an object that symbolizes the pride and thanks that medal-winning athletes have for their coaches,” said Franki, a former master designer in the U.S. Mint's artistic infusion program. In 2005, his reserve side of the “American Bison” nickel was chosen for a limited run. A year later, his forward-facing portrait of Thomas Jefferson was minted on the reissued nickel.
“Now that the medal is out, this is the fun part: to watch people enjoy it and to see a tradition begin.”
Welcome recognition
Burdan and Korfanty received two, after their fencers also won a bronze in the team saber event. Korfanty wasn't due back from China until today. But Sunday, in a phone interview, Burdan gave the Ikkos a rave review.
“It's heavy; it's beautiful,” he said in a thick accent from his native Soviet Union. “It was a huge surprise, very special to be the first coaches to get this medal.”
Cathy Zagunis, mother of gold-medalist Marial, was at the USA House ceremony when Burdan and Korfanty were presented the medals.
She was moved by the efforts to recognize coaches. “In the United States, it's the athletes who get all the attention,” she said in a phone interview at her home in Portland.
“In other countries, if an athlete wins, the coach gets a performance grant. So it was nice to see the Olympic Committee recognizing the coaches for all their hard work.”
Korfanty's wife, Krystyna, said one of his medals probably will go on display at Portland's fencing club, the other at their home.
“I am so happy that somebody is finally recognizing that the success of athletes has something to do with the hard work of coaches,” she said. “Believe me, my husband worked hard to achieve these medals.”
Creation that will endure
The Ikkos has Franki closely watching U.S. coaches for a medal around their neck.
He didn't sculpt the medal. After his design was chosen – for which he was paid $2,008 – it was sculpted and minted by a Michigan mint.
Franki didn't see the finished product until two weeks ago when three medals arrived in the mail.
“I'd been waiting for it like an expectant father,” he said. “It's not often that a hunk of metal would make me cry – but seeing it for the first time, I did get choked up.”
Now his work will be reissued at every Olympic and Paralympic Games, and will be handed down to the next generations.
“That's the cool thing: This design is lasting, it's perpetual,” Franki said. “All artists hope they'll create something that is more interesting than who they are, and will endure well beyond the date we depart this world.”
