Olympic medal began in 1896 medals started to be given to successful olympian competitors. However, gold medals were not awarded at the inaugural Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The winners were instead given a silver medal and an olive branch, while runners-up received a laurel branch and a copper or bronze medal. In 1900, most winners received cups or trophies instead of medals. The custom of the sequence of gold, silver, and bronze for the first three places dates from the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has retroactively assigned gold,
Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 15 and 16. U.S. swimmer Aaron Peirsol won a gold medal in this event, outside an Olympic record time of 54.06 seconds. Markus Rogan captured Austria's first ever medal in swimming after a hundred years, earning the silver at 54.35. Japan's Tomomi Morita, on the other hand, edged out defending Olympic champion and world record holder Lenny Krayzelburg to take