Olympic Medal Presentation Rules in Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines, and medals are awarded for all of them. Of course, the list of Olympic sports is not written in stone. Sports have been added and there have been occasions when sports were eliminated. Either adding or subtracting Olympic sports always is marked by strong opinions of both sides.

The medal presentation ceremony is governed as is every aspect of the Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The athletes are made aware of the rules regarding their behavior during medal presentation ceremonies and any deviation from those rules is sufficient reason for an athlete being sent home and not allowed to ever again compete in the Olympic Games.

An infraction of the rules at the medal ceremony has only happened once. During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City two black track-and-field athletes from the United States, Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed the "Black Power" salute. They were sent home.

After an Olympic event, when the medal winners have been decided, a medal ceremony is held. Each ceremony is exactly identical to every other medal ceremony. The event champion (gold medal) stands in the center and on the highest elevated platform. The second-place finisher (silver medal) stands to the left (facing the flags) on a slightly lower platform, and the third-place finisher (bronze medal) stands on the right, also on a slightly lower platform.

The medals are then presented to the winners.

The flags of the winning athletes are raised, with the event champion's flag in the center and slightly higher than the other two flags. The national anthem of the event champion is played, and the ceremony is complete.