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 maintained the second spot from Sydney in 2000, but produced a total of 15 more medals (seven golds, five silver, and three bronze) to its historical hardware in swimming. Meanwhile, Japan moved from behind to third overall in the medal board with eight medals after a sterling breaststroke double from Kosuke Kitajima. A total of eight world records and twenty-five Olympic records were set during the competition. Swimming events at the 2004 Summer Olympics were held at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, officially known as the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OCO) during the games. Originally