The tradition of the Olympic Games is to distribute three medals to the best three in each discipline, but you will see 4 in this discipline at the Paris Olympics.
Olympic medals are a major goal in an athlete’s career. Gold, silver and bronze, they are recognition of the athlete’s hard work and sacrifices. Since the first edition, medals have rewarded podium finishes in all Olympic disciplines. In Paris, the 41 sports represented during the Summer Olympic Games will distribute 5,084 medals, in gold, silver or bronze.
At each Olympics, the medals have a very particular design. For this edition of the Paris 2024 Games, the organizing committee has decided to incorporate a fourth metal into the medal: iron. The latter is not a piece of a tin can, but a cut hexagon from the Eiffel Tower. Coming from the warehouses of the Eiffel Tower operating company, the pieces of iron were removed from the tower during the various restorations carried out since 1899. These hexagons will be set in the center of each medal and stamped with the emblem of the Games. Paris 2024.
Traditionally, three medals are distributed to the first, second and third in each Olympic event. However, some disciplines award an additional medal. These are boxing, wrestling, taekwondo and judo. For these four combat sports, in addition to gold and silver, two bronze medals are awarded, with specific award systems. For boxing, the rule is quite simple. The two losing semi-finalists each win a bronze medal, without making a small final to decide between them. On the other hand, the system is more complicated for wrestling, judo and taekwondo. It is based on the principle of the repechage tournament. From the quarter-finals onwards, the loser of each match falls into the secondary draw, with a possibility of returning to fight for the bronze medal. Here’s how the process works with competitors A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H.
- Quarter-finals : HAS vs. B; VS vs D; E vs. F; G vs H
- Semi-finals : HAS vs. C and E vs G | Draft : B vs D and F vs H
- Final : HAS vs E | Third place : VS vs. B and G vs F
In this situation, the gold medal goes to A, the silver medal to E and the two bronze medals to C and G. During the Tokyo Games in 2021, a fifth sport awarded four medals: karate. This sport, which notably brought a gold medal to France thanks to Steven Da Costa, is no longer part of the Olympic program and has therefore disappeared for the 2024 edition.