Did you know medals were not awarded during ancient Olympic games? Instead winners were given olive wreaths. The medal tradition began during the first modern Olympics in 1896 where first place winners received silver, second place received bronze, and third place winners left empty handed. Throughout history the Olympic medals have been many shapes and sizes with today’s gold medals being silver covered with 6 grams of 24 karat-gold. The Winter Olympic medals have no standard design and have even been made of glass. This year’s Winter Olympic medals have a unique undulating shape said to reflect the Vancouver landscape. Even more unique, the medals were crafted from melted circuit boards. Canadian artists Corrine Hunt and Omer Abel designed the medals with each medal being laser etched and are all composed of materials from recycled electronics. As of today the U.S. leads with most gold medals, 7, and total medals, 24.
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