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John Millen

Olympic Gold
It is every athlete's dream to win an Olympic gold medal. Because the Olympics are held only every four years and because they have such a high world profile, an Olympic gold is often the top achievement in an athlete's career.
Medal winning is an invention of the modern Olympic Games. In the ancient Greek Olympics there were no medals. Winning athletes were awarded an olive wreath to wear on their head.
At the first modern Olympiads, the winning athlete in each event received a silver medal because silver was regarded as more valuable than gold. Silver was replaced by gold for the winner's medal at the 1904 St Louis Olympics. Today, runners-up receive silver medals and those in third place get a bronze. But in fact, an Olympic 'gold' is not really gold. Modern Olympic 'gold' medals are made of silver with a thin covering of gold.
1. Pick a word out of the text that means the same as 'accomplishment'.
a) invention
b) achievement
2. Which phrase means the same as 'was thought to be'?
Design and Size
All three Olympic medals are seven centimetres in diameter and from 1928 to 1968 had the same design. For the ninth Olympiad in Amsterdam (1928), a medal was made with a special design on the front and back.
On the front, a Greek goddess represents victory with an ancient Greek arena on her right. The front also shows the year, the number of the Games and the name of the host city.
On the reverse, an Olympic champion is being carried through the crowd by fellow athletes.
From 1928 to 1968, Olympic medals kept the Amsterdam design, but for the Munich Games in 1972 the IOC decided to do something different. They announced that from now on each host city could design the reverse of the medal to suit itself. Each Olympiad will now have a medal unique to the city where it is held.
3. What is the correct noun for 'the front side of a coin'?
a) reverse
b) obverse
4. What phrase means the same as 'from this moment on'?
Beijing's Medals
For more than a year, an international judging panel made up of Olympic officials, artists and designers has been pouring over possible designs for the Beijing 2008 Olympic medal.
This has been the first time a public competition has been organised for the medal design, and more than 260 entries were selected as possible winners. The winning design is based on the ancient Chinese 'bi', a flat jade disc with a circular hole in the middle.
The Beijing medals also involve an important innovation that makes them unique. For the first time jade is being used in the manufacturing of the Olympic medals. On the front, each medal has the standard design laid down by the IOC.
The reverse side is a circle of jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved on a central metal disc. The Beijing 2008 medals are elegant pieces of China that any athlete would wear with pride and honour.
5. What phrase means 'for a longer time than 12 months'?
6. What is 'an innovation'?
a) something traditional
b) something new
Olympic Fact File
Match together two pieces to make a true sentence and then copy it into your Olympic Fact File.
1. The first Olympic gold medal was given . . .
2. On the front of all Olympic medals there is . . .
3. Today, silver medals . . .
4. The design of the Beijing medals . . .
5. Munich was the first host city to . . .
a) . . . at the St Louis Olympics in 1904.
b) . . . are given to runners-up.
c) . . . was chosen by competition.
d) . . . design the reverse side of its own Olympic medal.
e) . . . the image of an ancient Greek goddess.
Answers
1b / 2 was regarded as / 3b / 4 from now on / 5 for over a year / 6b
1a / 2e / 3b / 4c / 5d



Medals and more