Bronze medal
Abronze medalin sports and other similar areas involving competition is amedalmade ofbronzeawarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as theOlympic Games,Commonwealth Games,etc. The outright winner receives agold medaland the second place asilver medal.More generally, bronze is traditionally the most common metal used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones. The practice of awardingbronzethird placemedalsin the Olympic Games began at the1904 Olympic GamesinSt. Louis,Missouri, before which only first and second places were awarded.
Olympic Games
[edit]MintingOlympic medals is the responsibility of the host city. From1928–1968the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design byFlorentineartistGiuseppe Cassioliwith text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From1972–2000,Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was originally a Greek game, a new obverse design was commissioned for theAthens 2004Games.Winter Olympicsmedals have been of more varied design.
In a few tournament sports, such asboxing,judo,taekwondoandwrestling,two bronze medals are awarded in each event – one for each eliminated semi-finalist or for the winners of therepechagebrackets.[1]
Psychological study
[edit]In 1995, a study was carried out bysocial psychologistsVictoria Medvec, Scott Madey andThomas Gilovichon the effects ofcounterfactual thinkingon the Olympics. The study showed that athletes who won the bronze medal were significantly happier with their winning than those athletes who won thesilver medal.The silver medalists were more frustrated because they had missed thegold medal,while the bronze medalists were simply happy to have received any honors at all (instead of no medal for fourth place). This is more pronounced inknockout competitions,where the bronze medals are achieved by winning athird place playoff,whereas silver medals are awarded after a defeat in the final.[2][3]This psychological phenomenon was parodied in theJerry SeinfeldspecialI'm Telling You for the Last Time.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"How are bronze medals decided at the Olympics?".Olympics.Retrieved18 July2022.
- ^Swanson, Ana (2016-08-16)."Why bronze medalists are happier than silver medalists, and other things the Olympics teaches us about human emotions".Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-09-26.Retrieved2023-08-19.
- ^Medvec, Victoria; Madey, Scott; Gilovich, Thomas (1995)."When less is more: Counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists".Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.69(4): 603–610.doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.603.PMID7473022.Retrieved2023-08-19.
External links
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