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,
South Korea at the 2004 Summer Olympics South Korea at the 2004 Summer Olympics South Korea competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the United States boycott. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1992. A total of 264 athletes, 145 men and 119 women, competed in 25 sports. South Korea left Athens with a total of 30 medals (9 golds, 12 silver, and 9 bronze), finishing ninth in the overall medal standings. Four of these