Olympic Games

Olympic Medals

In the ancient Olympics, no medals were awarded. The first-place winner was given an olive branch to wear on his head. The second and third place winners did not receive anything.
At the first Games in 1896, silver medals were awarded to the winners and bronze to the second place getters. Eight years later, at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, gold replaced silver as the medal awarded for first place.
The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912. Today's 'gold' medals are actually made of sterling silver and covered with a thin coat of pure gold (6 grams or .21 ounces) . The current specifications is that each medal must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter.

All Olympic medals since 1928 have featured the same design on the front: a Greek goddess, the Olympic Rings, the coliseum of ancient Athens, a Greek vase known as an amphora, a horse-drawn chariot, and the year, number of the Olympiad, and host city. Each host city is allowed to add special details to this design.
For the reverse of the medal, each organizing committee is allowed their own design. At the games in Atlanta, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG ) selected the ACOG logo plus a pictogram of the particular sport the medal is being awarded for.
At Atlanta, there was a total of 1,838 medals awarded - 604 gold, 604 silver, and 630 bronze. There are more bronze medals awarded as some Olympic events do not have third or fourth place winners, the losers in semi-final rounds are both awarded bronze medals.