Room 6: The Olympic Medal

In the years leading up to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the International Olympic Committee held a competition to design the medal to be awarded to victorious athletes. Artists from around the world participated, with over 50 sketches submitted. Giuseppe Cassioli presented a design titled “Triumph”: on the front, “Glory” is depicted in the act of crowning the winner, while on the reverse, an athlete is carried in triumph. In a display case, we can admire the dies, punches, and models used in the medal’s creation, which belong to the Stabilimenti Artistici Fiorentini, the company Cassioli worked with to bring the medal to life. In the adjacent gallery, rare documents tell the story behind this remarkable event.

This room offers a fascinating display of Olympic editions, from 1928 to 2000, where Cassioli’s medal took center stage on the podium, adorning victorious athletes. The original design was faithfully followed until the 1972 Munich Games, when it was decided that each host country’s artist would design the reverse. The 1984 Los Angeles Games, however, reinstated Cassioli's complete design.