| Competition for the Olympic Medal
The general rules of the Games specify that
the Olympic Games prizes consist of both Olympic medals and certificates.
Each medal is accompanied by a certificate. A certificate is also
awarded to the winning team in team events. The Organizing Committee
can, on the request of an international federation, award a certificate
of merit to a competitor whose performance is outstanding, but who fails
to win a prize.
All participants in the Games receive a commemorative
medal.
In summary, three medals are awarded for
events:
a) For individual events
1. For the winner, a gold medal and a certificate
2. For the competitor coming second, a silver
medal and a certificate
3. For the competitor coming third, a bronze
medal and a certificate
b) For team events
1. For the wining team, a team certificate,
and for each team member, a gold medal and a certificate.
2. For the team coming second, a team certificate
and for each team member, a silver medal and a certificate.
3. For the team coming third, a team certificate
and for each team member, a bronze medal and a certificate.
In team events, all those having effectively
participated in the event have a right to a medal and certificate corresponding
to prize won by the team. Moreover, at its session of 6th June 1921,
in Lausanne, the international Olympic Committee decided, at the proposal
from M. le Comte de Baillet-Latour, that an international competition be
inaugurated by the French Olympic Committee and that the winning medal
be put forward for the agreement of the International Olympic Committee,
to become the definitive prize for future Olympic Games. Only the
commemorative medal would be left to the choice of the national committees,
so changing every four years.
As the design of the Olympic medal had to
be drawn up in order to be taken to the session of the International Olympic
Committee in Rome in April 1923, it appeared impossible to assemble an
international competition of far-flung artists, allowing them enough time
to finish their work. So it was decided at the session of 9th June
1922 to cancel the international aspect of the competition
The victory ceremony with Pierre de Coubertin,
1924
Limited competition - So the French Olympic
Committee was still responsible for organizing a competition restricted
to young French artists of the Committee's choosing. A list of six
names were given to the Committee by M. Olivier Sainsere, Président
du Jury de Peinture (President of the Board of Painting Judges), a reputed
lover of art, and M. Georges Salles of the Direction des Beaux-Arts (Director
of Fine Art). They were Messrs Bénard, Fraisse, Morlon, Poisson,
Rivaud, and Roques, all holders of gold medals or of the Prix de Rome (French
government art scholarships) and all, moreover, practitioners of sport.
They were informed in a letter dated 23 October 1922 of the rules of the
competition.
They had to take their work, on 1st February
1923, executed in plaster or in the definitive material, to the headquarters
of the French Olympic Committee, to submit them to examination by the Commission
des Arts. As the uncertainty of the reward, the fear of losing, and
the time and effort involved made most of the artists taking part only
devote their spare time to it, the members of the Commission decided that
each of the candidates should receive 3,000 francs compensation for
their work and the best judged design would achieve a 15,000 franc prize,
with its creator commissioned to execute designs for the obverse and reverse
faces of the medal.
At the request of the French Olympic Committee,
M. le Colonel Bonvalot, Directeur de l'Ecole de Gymnastique de Joinville
(Director of the Joinville Gymnastic School) granted the artists authorization
to attend athletes' practice sessions to use them as models if they wished
to do so. Moreover, he arranged movie sessions for them, showing
the Finnish winners of the preceding Games. In slow motion, they
could study their stances and movements. However, when on 1st February
the designs were taken to the session of the French Olympic Committee,
one could be persuaded at first glance how difficult it is for an artist
to shed the influences of the school to express freely direct impressions
of life. Their work was conscientious, but clearly more or less inspired
by antiquated influences
The medal that appeared the most original
was that of M. Rivaud. It was accepted by the Commission des Arts
at the third round of judging. During the same session, the Commission
decided to entrust the commemorative medal to M. Roques; but, because of
the failure of this artist, the completion of his work was entrusted to
M Raoul Benard, who had previously engraved the Winter Sports medal.
The medals were struck at the Paris mint.
There were 912 prize medals and 9,500 commemorative
medals delivered.
(Source document: Official
Report 1924, page 802) translated
from the French original by John E. Harris, 2005) |
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