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,
Ethnikos G.S. Athens Ethnikos G.S. Athens Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos or Ethnikos Athens is one of the oldest multi-sports clubs in Greece. It was founded in 1893. It had a team of gymnasts competing at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. The team's leader was Ioannis Chrysafis. Members included Ioannis Mitropoulos, Dimitrios Loundras, Filippos Karvelas, and 15 others whose names are unknown. The team placed third of the three teams in the parallel bars team event, earning a bronze medal (retroactively awarded by the International Olympic Committee, as the awards at the first Olympic Games differed from the gold, silver, bronze format used later).