The secret behind why Paralympians hold medals to their ears has been uncovered

In what many believe is a simple tradition during the Paralympics has been revealed to be even more beautiful.

The medals that the Paralympians receive have been purposely designed so that the athletes could hear their medals.  While traditionally the Paralympic medals have had braille writing on them these medals have included metal balls inside of the medal to give gold, silver, and bronze distinctive sounds.

The gold medal contains 28 balls, the silver has 20, and the bronze contains 18 so that the winners can literally hear their victory.

A medal like no other! These Paralympic winners are listening to their medals! For the first time ever, the Paralympic Games have placed a device inside the medals that use tiny steel balls to make a sound when they are shaken, allowing visually impaired athletes to identify which type they are. The bronze medals have 16 steel balls and make the lowest sound. The silver ones have 20 balls and the golds have 28, producing the loudest noise. All of the medals also have the words ‘Rio 2016 Paralympic Games’ written on them in Braille. Awesome! @rio2016 @paralympics

A photo posted by The Olympic Games (@olympics) on Sep 13, 2016 at 8:10am PDT

Truly inspiring. #Rio2016 #Paralympics

A photo posted by The Olympic Games (@olympics) on Sep 12, 2016 at 8:58am PDT

Truly inspiring. #Paralympics @rio2016

A video posted by The Olympic Games (@olympics) on Sep 14, 2016 at 7:52am PDT