The solicitation will end on March 26, 2006, with the winning design expected to be unveiled in the middle of this year.

"Design proposals are expected to interpret the themes and values of the Olympic movement with Chinese style, culture and spirit," Zhang Ming, deputy director of BOCOG's culture and ceremonies department, told a press conference.

A judging panel made up of BOCOG officials and experts will evaluate all the entries after the solicitation campaign ends.

"Eight designs shall make a shortlist with each winning a prize money 20,000 yuan(about 2,500 US dollars)," said Zhang.

"The judging panel will then pick three out of the eight shortlisted candidates and they will scoop a further 30,000 yuan(about 3,750 US dollars) a piece," she added.

As required by the BOCOG, a complete set of proposal should be composed of the images of both the obverse and the reverse of the medal, the medal ribbon, the medal presentation box and diploma.

In line with the IOC practice, the obverse of the medal of the Olympic Games uses the uniform image featuring the winged depiction of standing Goddess of Victory and the panorama of Greek Panathinaiko Stadium. The wording on the obverse of the medal is XXIX OLYMPIAD BEIJING 2008. Enditem