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21-437: Little is known about the competition, though gold medals are known to have been awarded to Betty Haig of Great Britain (and her co-driver, either Joyce Lambert or Barbara Marshall) in a Singer Le Mans , as well as Paul Abt of Switzerland in a Riley Falcon . According to the official rules and regulations document, points were awarded for crossing certain checkpoints , with all racers who surpassed 2,000 points being awarded

42-511: A circle or a horse-shoe. The branches of the sacred wild-olive tree near the temple of Zeus were cut by a pais amphithales ( Ancient Greek : παῖς ἀμφιθαλής , a boy whose parents were both alive) with a pair of golden scissors. Then he took them to the temple of Hera and placed them on a gold-ivory table. From there, the Hellanodikai (the judges of the Olympic Games) would take them, make

63-423: A gold medal, 1,000 points getting a silver, and all others who completed the course getting a bronze. Some sources claim that Fritz Huschke von Hanstein of Germany was awarded a silver trophy. This 1936 Olympics -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from

84-600: A humorous comment on victorious athletes who are crowned with wreath made of wild olive instead of gold: Why, Zeus is poor, and I will clearly prove it to you. In the Olympic games, which he founded, and to which he convokes the whole of Greece every four years, why does he only crown the victorious athletes with wild olive? If he were rich he would give them gold. The victorious athletes were honoured, feted, and praised. Their deeds were heralded and chronicled so that future generations could appreciate their accomplishments. In fact,

105-524: A significant military or naval victory or accomplishment. In the United States, Congress would enact a resolution asking the President to reward those responsible. The commanding officer would receive a gold medal and his officers would get silver medals . Medals have historically been given as prizes in various types of competitive activities, especially athletics. Traditionally, medals are made of

126-465: A slight modification) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheater for what originally were Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . For the 2008 Beijing Olympics medals had a diameter of 70mm and were 6mm thick, with the front displaying a winged figure of victory and

147-540: A sporting discipline receive a gold medal in recognition of their achievement. At the Ancient Olympic Games , only one winner per event received an award, which was a kotinos , an olive wreath made of wild olive leaves from a sacred tree near the temple of Zeus at Olympia. Aristophanes in Plutus makes a remark why victorious athletes are crowned with wreaths made of wild olive instead of gold. Herodotus describes

168-537: A story that explains why there were only a few Greek men at the Battle of Thermopylae since "all other men were participating in the Olympic Games" and that the prize for the winner was "an olive-wreath". When Tigranes , an Armenian general, learned this, he uttered to his leader: "Good heavens! What kind of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight? Men who do not compete for possessions, but for honour". At

189-698: Is relevant to the olive wreath. Xerxes was interrogating some Arcadians after the Battle of Thermopylae . He inquired why there were so few Greek men defending the Thermopylae. The answer was "All other men are participating in the Olympic Games" . And when asked "What is the prize for the winner?" , "An olive-wreath" came the answer. Then Tiritantaechmes , one of his generals uttered: "Good heavens! Mardonius , what kind of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight? Men who do not compete for possessions, but for virtue ."' Aristophanes in Plutus makes

210-441: Is some variety, such as International barbershop music contests where bronze medals are awarded for third, fourth, and fifth place. Kotinos The olive wreath , also known as kotinos ( Greek : κότινος ), was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games . It was a branch of the wild olive tree Kallistefanos Elea (also referred to as Elaia Kallistephanos ) that grew at Olympia , intertwined to form

231-459: The 1896 Summer Olympics , winners received a silver medal and the second-place finisher received a bronze medal . In 1900 , most winners received cups or trophies instead of medals. The next three Olympics ( 1904 , 1908 , 1912 ) awarded the winners solid gold medals, but the medals themselves were smaller. The use of gold rapidly declined with the onset of the First World War and also with

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252-729: The Olympic Games , the Lorentz Medal , the United States Congressional Gold Medal and the Nobel Prize medal. Nobel Prize medals consist of 18  karat green gold plated with 24 karat gold. Before 1980, they were struck in 23 karat gold. Before the establishment of standard military awards , e.g., the Medal of Honor , it was common practice to have a medal specially created to provide national recognition for

273-507: The 19th century, with the National Association of Amateur Athletes in the United States awarding such medals as early as 1884. This standard was adopted for Olympic competition at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis . At the 1896 event , silver was awarded to winners and bronze to runners-up, while in 1900 other prizes were given, not medals. At the modern Olympic Games , winners of

294-404: The Olympic host. From 1928 through 1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli of Greek goddess Nike with Rome's Colosseum in the background and text naming the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of Nike saluting an Olympic champion. From the 1972 Summer Olympics through 2000 , Cassioli's design (or

315-640: The back showed a Beijing Olympics symbol surrounded by an inset jade circle. Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. The silver and bronze medals have always borne the same designs. The award of a gold medal, often coupled with the award of silver and bronze medals to the next place finishers, has been adopted in other sports competitions (such as the Mediterranean Games ), and in other competitive fields, such as music and writing, as well as some competitive games. Typically bronze medals are awarded only to third place, but in some contests there

336-630: The following metals: Occasionally, Platinum medals can be awarded. These metals designate the first three Ages of Man in Greek mythology : the Golden Age , when men lived among the gods, the Silver Age , where youth lasted a hundred years, and the Bronze Age , the era of heroes. The custom of awarding the sequence of gold, silver , and bronze medals for the first three highest achievers dates from at least

357-461: The iconography of the founding of the modern Olympic games , with imagery that has the wreath connecting the ancient practice and dates with the events in 1896. Olive wreaths were given out during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in honor of the ancient tradition, because the games were being held in Greece which was also used as the official emblem. Herodotus describes the following story which

378-458: The names of the Olympic winners formed the chronology basis of the ancient world, as arranged by Timaeus in his work, The Histories . Amongst the many cultural references concerning the olive wreath, the first line of the first stanza in the Mexican national anthem calls for the motherland , figuratively, to keep hold of the olive wreath surrounding "its temples ", a wreath which was given by

399-511: The onset of the Second World War . The last series of Olympic medals to be made of solid gold were awarded at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm , Sweden . Olympic gold medals are required to be made from at least 92.5% silver , and must contain a minimum of 6 grams of gold. All Olympic medals must be at least 70mm in diameter and 3mm thick. Minting the medals is the responsibility of

420-636: The use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have been awarded in the arts, for example, by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts , usually as a symbol of an award to give an outstanding student some financial freedom. Others offer only the prestige of the award. Many organizations now award gold medals either annually or extraordinarily, including various academic societies. While some gold medals are solid gold, others are gold-plated or silver-gilt , like those of

441-478: The wreaths and crown the winners of the Games. According to Pausanias it was introduced by Heracles as a prize for the running race winner to honor his father Zeus . In the ancient Olympic Games there were no gold , silver, or bronze medals. There was only one winner per event, crowned with an olive wreath made of wild-olive leaves from a sacred tree near the temple of Zeus at Olympia . Olive wreaths were part of

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