A
bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a
medal made of
bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the
Olympic Games,
Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives a
gold medal and the second place a
silver medal. More generally, bronze is traditionally the most common metal used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones. The practice of awarding
bronze third place
medals began at the
1904 Olympic Games in
St. Louis, Missouri, prior to which only first and second places were awarded.