section_path: Ceremonies/Medal presentation
section_name: Medal presentation
paragraph_text: Medal presentation
  
  A medal ceremony is held after the conclusion of each Olympic event. The winner, and the second- and third-place competitors or teams, stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum to be awarded their respective medals by a member of the IOC. After the medals have been received, the national flags of the three medallists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medallist's country is played. Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, assisting the officials who present the medals and acting as flag-bearers. In the Summer Olympics, each medal ceremony is held at the venue where the event has taken place, but the ceremonies at the Winter Olympics are usually held in a special "plaza".
  
  The practice of awarding Olympic medals at podium ceremonies was established at the 1932 Winter Olympics, based on pedestals used at the 1930 British Empire Games, as proposed by Melville Marks Robinson.