Q.Each Olympic Games has its own medal design. From 1928-2004, the front side of every Olympic Games medal carried an image of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, the Olympic Rings, the Coliseum of ancient Athens, an amphora, a horse-drawn chariot, and the year, number of the Olympiad, and host city — a new design was created for the 2004 Games. Design a medal for the Olympic Games if they were to be held in your town.

Olympic Awards are the formal recognition given to competitors at the end of each event. The winner receives a gold medal, the runner-up a silver medal, and the second runner-up a bronze medal, awarded on the podium while the winning nation's national anthem is played. Participants placed first to eighth receive a diploma, and every participant — not just the medallists — receives a commemorative medal.

This was not always the system. When the Modern Games began in 1896, the winner was given a silver medal and an olive branch, while the runner-up received a laurel branch and a copper or bronze medal — there was no medal at all for third place. In 1900, most winners were given cups or trophies instead of medals. The now-familiar gold-silver-bronze sequence for the top three places only became standard from the 1904 St Louis Games onward, and the IOC later retroactively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the best-placed athletes of the 1896 and 1900 Games so the record could be read consistently. …