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,
Athens Olympic Velodrome Athens Olympic Velodrome The Athens Olympic Velodrome is a velodrome stadium that is located in Marousi, Athens, Greece, at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. The stadium, which seats 5,250 - though only 3,300 seats were made publicly available for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games - has distinctive twin roofs, covering the stands on each side. The Olympic Velodrome was originally built in 1991, for the Mediterranean Games. It was extensively refurbished in order to host the track cycling events at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. It was redesigned for the 2004 Olympics by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The track, made