First Olympic gold medal

The first time gold medals were awarded to Olympic champions was during the 1904 Olympic Games held in St. Louis, USA. Prior to this, gold had been considered too expensive, so the winner of an event had received a silver medal and the runner-up a bronze, while there was no medal at all for third place. The last time gold medals were made from solid gold was at the Stockholm Games in 1912, following which the medals were cast in silver and coated in 6 g of gold.