Olympic Medal Design Timeline

Medals have been presented to event winners and runners-up since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. For each host city, different medals are minted and the designs and sizes have changed through time.

Olympic London 2012: The biggest Summer Olympics medals to date. Artist David Watkins says the key symbols on front and back juxtapose the goddess Nike, for the spirit and tradition of the Games, and the River Thames, for the city of London. On the back of the medals is the 2012 branding, representing the modern city as a jewel-like, geological growth. The logo is shown against a 'pick-up-sticks' grid which radiates the energy of athletes and a sense of pulling together. The River Thames runs through the middle as a celebratory ribbon. The bowl-like background recalls ancient amphitheatres, with a square balancing the circle to give a sense of place. The sport and discipline is engraved on the rim of each medal, all of which will be produced by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, South Wales.

Athens 1896	Paris 1900	Saint Louis 1904	London 1908
Stockholm 1912	Antwerp 1920	Paris 1924	Amsterdam 1928
Los Angeles 1932	Berlin 1936	London 1948	Helsinki 1952
Melbourne 1956	Rome 1960	Tokyo 1964	Mexico 1968
Munich 1972	Montreal 1976	Moscow 1980	Los Angeles 1984
Seoul 1988	Barcelona 1992	Atlanta 1996	Sydney 2000
Athens 2004	Beijing 2008	London 2012

Image: BBC.co.uk