Silver medal
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{{Unreferenced|date=February 2007}}
[[Image:1896 Olympic medal.jpg|frame|right|The [[1896 Olympics|1896 Olympic]] Silver Medal]]
A '''[[silver]] medal''' is a [[medal]] awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically [[sport|athletics]] competitions) such as the [[Olympic Games]], [[Commonwealth Games]], etc.
First and third place finishers traditionally receive a [[gold medal]] and [[bronze medal]], respectively.
== Olympic Games ==
In [[1896 Summer Olympics|1896]], winners' medals were in fact [[silver]]. The custom of [[gold]]-silver-[[bronze]] for the first three places dates from the [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 games]] and has been copied for many other sporting events. [[Mint (coin)|Minting]] the medals is the responsibility of the host city. From [[1928 Summer Olympics|1928]]-[[1968 Summer Olympics|1968]] the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by [[Florence|Florentine]] artist [[Giuseppe Cassioli]] with text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972]]-[[2000 Summer Olympics|2000]], Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was originally a Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the [[2004 Summer Olympics|Athens 2004]] Games. [[Winter Olympics]] medals have been of more varied design.
== World Cup ==
Silver medals were, unusually enough, awarded for the third place in the [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]] and [[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]] [[FIFA World Cup|football World Cups]] (the runners-up were awarded a gilded medal). {{Fact|date=May 2008}}
== The Open Championship ==
In [[The Open Championship]] golf tournament, the Silver Medal is an award presented to the lowest scoring [[amateurism|amateur]] player at the tournament.
==External links==
{{Commons|Gold medal}}
*[http://www.olympic.org/uk/passion/collectors/search_uk.asp?CatId=3&TypeId=4 Medal Designs for all Olympic Games]
[[Category:Olympic medals]]
[[Category:Maccabiah medals]]
[[Category:Sports terminology]]
[[Category:Award items]]
[[es:Medalla de plata]]
[[fr:Médaille d'argent]]
[[zh:银牌]]