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,
Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics at the Athens Games: These medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award. Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, two weightlifting events were contested (men's one hand lift and two hand lift). The top two places were won by the same two men in each event, though their order was reversed for the two events. The bronze medals were split by the two Greek weightlifters. A total of seven men from five nations competed. These medals are retroactively assigned