Silver medal

A silver medal is a special award given to the person or team who comes in second place in a competition. In big events like the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games, athletes work very hard. The winner gets a gold medal, the second-place finisher gets a silver medal, and the third-place finisher gets a bronze medal.

Silver medals are usually made from the metal silver or plated with silver, which makes them shiny and valuable. They are not just for sports; sometimes artists or others receive silver medals for their excellent work.

The idea of giving silver medals helps celebrate everyone who does a great job, even if they are not the very top winner. It shows that being in second place is still something to be proud of.

Sports

Olympic Games

Main article: Olympic medal

In the first Olympic event, the winners' medals were made of silver. The idea of giving out gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top three places started in the 1904 games. Many sports use this tradition today. The city hosting the Olympics makes the medals. From (/wiki/1928_Summer_Olympics) to (/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics), the medals always looked the same. The front showed a design by a Florentine artist, and the back showed an Olympic champion. Later, from (/wiki/1972_Summer_Olympics) to (/wiki/2000_Summer_Olympics), the front design stayed mostly the same, but the back changed for each host city. For the Athens Games, a new front design was made because the old one showed a Roman amphitheatre. Winter Olympics medals have had many different designs.

The Open Championship

In The Open Championship golf tournament, the Silver Medal is given to the player with the lowest score who is still an amateur.

Rejection of silver medals

See also: Bronze medal § Psychological study

In many sports tournaments, the team that loses the final game gets a silver medal, while the winners get gold and the team that comes third gets bronze. Some athletes have chosen not to keep their silver medals after winning. For example, Jocelyne Larocque at the 2018 Olympics was later asked by an official to wear her silver medal again.

Military and government

Some countries give out special awards called Silver Medals for brave or important work. Examples include:

• Austria’s Silver Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria
• Italy’s Silver Medal of Military Valor
• South Africa’s Silver Medal for Merit
• The Civil Air Patrol’s Silver Medal of Valor in the United States.

Other awards

The Zoological Society of London gives a Silver Medal to people who help us learn more about animals and nature. This includes teaching others about wildlife and protecting it.

The Royal Academy of Engineering also gives a Silver Medal for great work in engineering in the UK. This is especially for engineers who have been working for less than 22 years.