Every four years, around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part. Image caption, The ancient Olympic athletes ... silver and bronze medals. Winners were given ...

The history of Olympic medals paints a vivid picture of human ... This event marked the rebirth of the ancient Greek tradition, albeit with some modifications. Unlike today, winners were awarded ...

In fact, during the Rio games, Phelps broke the world record for most individual gold medals won by a single Olympian — a record held for 2,160 years by ancient Greek runner Leonidas of Rhodes.

It features an image of Zeus, the ancient Greek god of gods with the insignia ‘Olympia’. The medal is edged in bronze with the the Greek words “First International Olympic Games, Athens 1896 ...