Instead of medals, ancient Olympians were presented with a branch off of the wild olive tree growing in Olympia, Greece. At the first modern games held in Athens in 1896, winners received a silver medal and an olive branch.
The summer Olympics of 1900 mixed things up with rectangular medals for some sports and various cups and trophies for others. The now-familiar tradition of awarding circular gold, silver, and bronze medals began with the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games and has continued since.
This summer, the United States and China tied with 40 gold medals a piece (though the total medal count was 126 and 91, respectively). That's great, but it's also expected from these two powerhouse sporting nations. Kind of like when Stephen King or Colleen Hoover have another book on the bestseller list.
Since I'm the kind of person who likes to root for the underdog, I'm just as excited for Botswana, whose Olympic team brought back the country's first ever gold medal. Letsile Tebogo earned the top honor in the men's 200 meter race by besting American track superstars Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, and other world-class sprinters.
The president of Botswana declared a half-day holiday on Tuesday, and Tebogo returned home to a stadium full of fans celebrating his victory. Seeing as how Botswana has been competing in the summer Olympics since 1980, this seems more than appropriate.
Although I do everything at a much slower pace than the 19.46 second winning time and will never be in a national spotlight, I'm still inspired by this story. And speaking of inspiration, the Paralympic Games begin on August 28.
Have a great week!
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