Tassie’s best set to blow them away
The Mercury ,
A Tasmanian boxer will take his own set of Tasmanian Olympic rings when he competes in the London Games next month.
To commemorate his Olympic campaign, 27 year-old Luke Jackson commissioned a unique ring to be made by Hobart jeweller Chris Hood, of Metal Urges.
Jackson, of Hobart, is captain of the Australian boxing team and is training harder than ever – twice a day for the fight of his life.
“It’s crazy but I feel confident. I only lost by one point to the number one in the world, so I know I’m there, I know I can do it,” Jackson said.
The ring features the five Olympic rings interlocking with each other, using a combination of stones – black diamonds, yellow Sri Lankan sapphires, blue Madagascan sapphires, Burmese rubies, and green African garnet, called tsavorite.
My Hood said he has only used the very best of what is available for the price, cutting at least 100 stones for each coloured ring and picking the best 14 or so to use.
“This ring is symbolic and hopefully will get a lot of attention. A lot of athletes get tattoos, but Luke wanted some other way to display the symbol on his body,” Mr Hood said. The ring is valued at more than $5000.
Tasmania has 13 athletes confirmed so far for the Olympic team.
Last night Premier Lara Giddings hosted a black-tie farewell dinner for Tasmania’s Olympic hopefuls at the Wrest Point Casino.