Bronze medal Bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives a gold medal and the second place a silver medal. More generally, bronze is traditionally the most common metal used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri, before which only first and second places were awarded. Minting Olympic medals is
Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan Service Medal. The medal is silver and circular in shape and designed as follows: The "Afghanistan" Clasp is awarded for service specifically in Afghanistan. A silver rosette on the ribbon denotes entitlement to the clasp when no medal is worn.<br> There are three variants of the 'Afghanistan' clasps to date:<br>The first issue from 2002–2004 – the clasp had a smooth background behind the inscription.<br>From 2005 to date, from Operation Herrick onwards – the clasp has a 'dappled' effect behind the inscription, similar to the 'Northern Ireland' clasp on the General Service Medal 1962–2007.<br>During 2009, 1,000 medals were awarded with a