Rome 1960The Medals

The medals in Rome were set in a circle of bronze, featuring a laurel wreath matched with a chain also designed like a sequence of bronze laurel leaves.

From 1928 to 1968, the medals for the Summer Games were identical. On the obverse, the traditional goddess of victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right. On the reverse, an Olympic champion carried in triumph by the crowd, with the Olympic stadium in the background. The Organising Committee for the Games in Munich in 1972 broke new ground by having a different reverse, which was designed by a Bauhaus representative, Gerhard Marcks.

Exceptionally, for the Games in Rome, the obverse and the reverse of the medal were inverted. On the obverse, an Olympic champion carried in triumph by the crowd, with the Olympic stadium in the background. On the reverse, the traditional goddess of victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right. A design used since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, created by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli (ITA - 1865-1942) and chosen after a competition organised by the International Olympic Committee in 1921. For these Games, the figure of victory is accompanied by the specific inscription: "GIOCHI DELLA XVII OLIMPIADE ROMA MCMLX".

Designer: Giuseppe Cassioli

Composition: 1st Place (Gilt silver; Bronze), 2nd Place (Silver; Bronze), 3rd Place (Bronze)

Diameter: Gilt silver (68mm), Silver (70mm), Bronze (69mm)

Mint: Stabilimenti Artistici Fiorentini