Are Olympic Medals Made of Gold?

For athletes who stand on the top step of the Olympic podium and get a gold medal placed around their necks, the moment—and the medal—is priceless. But the reality is that the gold medal is not worth much more than the silver medal around the neck of the second-place finisher.

That is because, according to Olympic rules, gold medals must be at least 92.5 percent silver and then coated with roughly six grams of pure gold. (Silver medals are similarly 92.5 percent silver, while bronze medals are made of copper and other alloys.) The tradition of awarding medals dates only to the modern Olympic era, which began with the 1896 Games in Athens, and even then they were not like the medals we know today.

A bit of history, then. The ancient Olympics date back some 2,800 years to 776 bce, and the winners were given crowns, typically made of indigenous plants, including laurel leaves or olive branches. Fast-forward to 1896 and the modern era, which saw the first awarding of medals. But only two medals were given and neither was gold: The winner received a silver medal and the second-place finisher a copper medal. If you finished third, you were out of luck. That changed when the Olympics moved to Paris in 1900 and rectangular medals were awarded to the top three finishers in some sports. It was the only time that rectangular medals were awarded and the first time for gold, silver, and bronze, although in Paris other awards were also given in lieu of medals, including trophies and works of art.

By 1904 the tradition of gold, silver, and bronze was firmly established, and for the 1904, 1908, and 1912 Games, gold medals really were solid gold. The 1916 Games were not held because of World War I, and after that the price of gold made solid gold medals prohibitively expensive. Although the International Olympic Committee carefully governs the content of the medals, other elements have been introduced to reflect the cultural or iconic significance of the host country. For example, for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, jade was used in the medals. Similarly, for the 2024 Paris Games, a piece of the Eiffel Tower was incorporated into each medal.