How much does the Olympic gold medal weigh? The composition of the Olympic gold medal. How much does an Olympic gold medal cost?

The Olympics are one of the most anticipated sports events in the world. Many fans are looking forward to the opening ceremony and further competitions. And with every Games, many are asking questions about how much the gold Olympic medal weighs, what metal it is made of. For example, medals in Sochi were, perhaps, the largest in the history of the Olympic Games. Let's try to figure out how and why the parameters of the Olympic awards change.

From the history

Most of the athletes who won many awards, unanimously assure that the most valuable for them is the Olympic medal. It is not by chance that many of them skip world competitions to better prepare for this important stage in their lives. The first "modern" Games were held in 1896, and it was then that the first medals were developed. They are given for the first three prizes. It is noteworthy that during the Games in Antiquity medals as such were not. They appeared only in the modern history of the Olympic movement. So, at the first Olympiad the medal to the winner and the runner-up was destined for silver, 925-th test, and for the third place was supposed a medal, covered with six grams of gold. Find out how much Weighs Gold Olympic A medal of that time is not possible, it is only known that in diameter it reached 60 mm, and its thickness was 3 mm.

During the first Games (1896, Greece), the winners were awarded 43 sets of awards. On one side of each medal was depicted Zeus, holding the globe with the goddess Nika standing on it. On the back was an Acropolis with an inscription in Greek: "International Olympic Games". The idea of design belonged to the artist Jules Chaplin. The weight gold Olympic The medal was only 47 grams.

How the design was changing

Gradually, the appearance of medals (size, diameter, design, shape) begins to change. For example, in 1900 awards were given in a rectangular form (they weighed 53 grams) with the image of the goddess Nicky in a laurel wreath on one side and standing on the pedestal on the other. At the third Games, Olympic medals were embossed, with chains of bronze specially made for them for the first time. Almost 100 years have passed, and in 1998 the awards began to be created with an additional eyelet, in which it was convenient to insert the tape. Subsequently, this decision was used constantly.

Composition

However, not only design, but also composition Olympic gold The medal was constantly changing, and not only gold. For example, at the Games in London, the bronze award was a copper alloy (97%), zinc (2.5%) and tin (0.5%). Silver by 92.5% consisted of silver, and the remaining 7.5% - is copper. The gold medal, however strange, was also cast from silver (92.5%) and copper (6.16%), while gold was nothing - about 1%. That is, it turns out that the differences between them are not special, in any case, as far as composition is concerned. It is not difficult to calculate now how much Is worth Olympic Gold Medal: for the bronze award in the market would have to pay a maximum of 150 rubles, for silver - a little more than 10 000 rubles, and the gold would have cost about 20 500 rubles. However, is it really the case?

However, we can not say that in the history of the Games there were no medals of pure gold. In 1908, the British decided to show their generosity at the Olympics and produced awards from pure gold of the 583rd test. True, they were more like jubilee coins than medals. Accordingly, we can roughly imagine how much Weighs Gold Olympic Medal - approximately 21 grams.

The form

It was not without experiments in terms of the form of awards. Of course, most medals are still round in shape, but oval and rectangular variations have also been encountered. For example, at the Olympics in Paris, the so-called plaques were awarded - rectangular awards, on which there was not a single inscription. And the Games were timed to the exhibition, which was held in Paris.

In the arms or on the neck?

Another noteworthy fact is that before 1960, Olympic medals were awarded directly to the hands, that is, they were not hung around their necks. And the Italians began to be the first who decided to correct this situation - they created a chain of bronze in the form of olive branches. However, during the ceremony, the girls stood with scissors - suddenly the athlete does not like that the medal he wants to hang on his neck, and not give in his hands. However, the novelty has taken hold, and now all the rewards are hung around the neck, for which they are equipped with a chain or ribbon

In addition to the question "how much does it weigh Gold Olympic Medal ", many are also interested in the number of awards that are awarded at the competitions, for example, researchers say that a record number of them was awarded at the Olympic Games in Sochi - about 1300. This expansion is attributed to the fact that the program of the Games has also become wider. , There were 86 sets of medals at the Vancouver Games, and 98 in Sochi. And in the first Winter Games in Chamonix there were only 16 sets of awards (for 9 sports).

Instead of a medal - the house

But in antiquity did not think about how much Is worth Olympic gold medal. The ancient Greeks and Romans simply did not know about their existence, and as awards there were houses, lands, bags of gold coins. The first Olympic winner Hercules received an olive branch as a reward, and nothing - did not take offense. It is also important that in ancient times only the winner was awarded. Much later, in 1984, the question was raised about increasing the number of prize places, and now the medals are awarded to three winners.

Olympic Medal Records

However, the records were set not only by the athletes, but also by the creators of the awards. For example, the heaviest medals were awarded in Vancouver - their weight was 576 grams, in Salt Lake City awards weighed 567 grams. But the largest in size were Turin medals, more like CDs. The smallest, as we have already said, were medals awarded to athletes in 1908 in London.

Rewarding in Sochi: features

The very process of producing awards for such large-scale events is rather complicated, it is not by chance that each Olympic gold medal (the photo shows how different the awards were in different years) is individual and special. For example, samples that were produced for the Games in Sochi, passed a huge number of tests and tests. Each copy was evaluated not only visually, but also in terms of quality. For example, it turned out that the Sochi medal is capable of withstanding any incident, whether it's bathing in champagne or checking for a tooth.

The Sochi Olympic gold medal is made of silver of the highest standard (525 grams of metal was required for each award) and six grams of gold. By the way, such demands are made by the IOC. But the medals of silver and bronze were completely made of the appropriate materials. It is also noteworthy that the awards for the Olympics and the Paralympic Games differ in weight, in design, and in size. In addition, they have elements of a special Braille alphabet, to read the inscriptions could and champions with poor eyesight.

Many athletes keep Olympic medals as the main achievement of their lives. But there are among them those who preferred to part with the coveted reward. For example, sprinter Tommy Smith in 2010 put his medal on sale, though, it was done in order to combat racism in the United States. A swimmer from Poland, Otilia Edřejčak, sold her medal to help children with leukemia.