Olympic Medals
By Tiffany
Before Medals
The first medal was handed out in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The winner would receive a silver medal along with an olive tree branch.
In the 1900 summer Olympics, the first place winner did not get a gold medal but instead received paintings because they were considered more valuable while the second winner received a silver medal and the third place winner went home empty handed.
The first city to award gold, silver and bronze medals was St. Louis in 1904.
Gold, Silver and Bronze
Gold Medal
Each medal is 10 mm thick and has a diameter of 10 cm. The mass of the medals are from 460 grams to 530 grams.
The gold medal isn't completely solid gold if that's what you're all thinking. In fact, 92.5% of the medal is silver. It only contains 6 grams of gold with a 999 hallmark and 525 grams of silver 960 hallmark (hallmark is marks struck on precious medals like platinum, gold and silver). The value of this medal is about $566. If the Sochi gold medal was made out of solid gold, the value would be approximately $21,500.
Silver Medal
Bronze Medal
Medal Design
On the medals, you can see the jagged mountains and different line artwork. It also shows the sport, the year (2014), the place this Olympic takes place in, Sochi Russia, along with the Olympic symbol.
Medal Count
860 gold, 860 silver and 849 bronze.
These are the top 5 leading countries:
- Norway- 303 medals
- USA- 253 medals
- Soviet Union- 194 medals
- Germany- 188 medals
- Austria- 145 medals
Did You Know?
- It takes 18 hours to make one medal
- 1300 medals were made for the 2014 winter Olympics, with a total weight of 700 kg
- About 2.5 kg of gold, 480 kg of silver, and 210 kg of bronze will be used to make the medals
- A solid gold medal was given out in the 1912 summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden