A Visual History of Every Summer Olympic Medal

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London are just around the corner, and hundreds of medals will be handed out to athletes. Since most of us aren't athletically talented enough to be taking one home, we decided to give you a closer look at what this year's winning athletes will wear around their neck. We also look back at every modern summer Olympic medal, dating back to the 1896 games in Athens, Greece. 

A bronze medal from the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

United States Medal Count: 11 Gold, 7 Silver, 1 Bronze

1896 Olympic Highlight: Robert Garrett wins gold in discus and shot put; silver in high jump and long jump.

A rectangular gold medal from Paris in 1900.

United States Medal Count: 19 Gold, 14.5 Silver, 15.5 Bronze

1900 Olympic Highlight: Alvin Kraenzlein wins four gold medals in track and field.
 

A gold medal from the sparsely-attended games in St. Louis in 1904.

United States Medal Count: 78 Gold, 85 Silver, 82 Bronze

1904 Olympic Highlight: America won over 80 percent of the medals in these Olympics.
 

A gold medal from 1908 in London, host of this summer’s games.

United States Medal Count: 23 Gold, 12 Silver, 12 Bronze

1908 Olympic Highlight: The 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius forced these Olympics to be moved from Rome.
 

A silver medal from Stockholm, Sweden in 1912.

United States Medal Count: 25 Gold, 18 Silver, 19 Bronze

1912 Olympic Highlight: Jim Thorpe wins gold in both the decathlon and pentathlon.
 

A gold medal from Antwerp, Belgium in 1920.

United States Medal Count: 41 Gold, 27 Silver, 27 Bronze

1920 Olympic Highlight: Hawaiian legend Duke Kahanamoku, who won gold in the 100-meter freestyle in 1912, wins that same event eight years later.
 

A gold medal from Paris in 1924.

United States Medal Count: 45 Gold, 27 Silver, 27 Bronze

1924 Olympic Highlight: Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller wins the 100- and 400-meter freestyle, plus adds a third gold in a relay.
 

A silver medal from Amsterdam in 1928.

United States Medal Count: 22 Gold, 18 Silver, 16 Bronze

1928 Olympic Highlight: Weissmuller wins two more gold medals in swimming, while Peter Desjardins takes two in diving.
 

A gold medal from Los Angeles in 1932.

United States Medal Count: 41 Gold, 32 Silver, 30 Bronze

1932 Olympic Highlight: Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins gold in the hurdles and javelin throw.
 

A gold medal from Berlin in 1936.

United States Medal Count: 24 Gold, 20 Silver, 12 Bronze

1936 Olympic Highlight: Jesse Owens sprints and jumps to four gold medals.
 

A gold medal from London in 1948.

United States Medal Count: 38 Gold, 27 Silver, 19 Bronze

1948 Olympic Highlight: Bob Mathias wins gold in the decathlon at the age of 17.
 

A silver medal from Helsinki, Finland in 1952.

United States Medal Count: 40 Gold, 19 Silver, 17 Bronze

1952 Olympic Highlight: Mathias defends his decathlon title with a world-record, while hurdler Harrison Dillard wins two golds for the second-straight Olympics.
 

A gold medal from Melbourne in 1956.

United States Medal Count: 32 Gold, 25 Silver, 17 Bronze

1956 Olympic Highlight: Sprinter Bobby Morrow wins the 100- and 200-meters, plus another gold on the 4X100 relay team.
 

A bronze medal from Rome in 1960.

United States Medal Count: 34 Gold, 21 Silver, 16 Bronze

1960 Olympic Highlight: Track star Wilma Rudolph wins three gold medals, while Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) takes boxing's light-heavyweight division.
 

A gold medal from Tokyo in 1964.

United States Medal Count: 36 Gold, 26 Silver, 28 Bronze

1964 Olympic Highlight: Future football stars Bob Hayes and Henry Carr sprint to gold.
 

A gold medal from Mexico City in 1968.

United States Medal Count: 45 Gold, 28 Silver, 34 Bronze

1968 Olympic Highlight: Bob Beamon wins gold by setting the long-jump world record that would last until 1991.
 

A silver medal from Munich in 1972.

United States Medal Count: 33 Gold, 31 Silver, 30 Bronze

1972 Olympic Highlight: Mark Spitz swims to seven gold medals during games marred by terrorists.
 

A gold medal from Montreal in 1976.

United States Medal Count: 34 Gold, 35 Silver, 25 Bronze

1976 Olympic Highlight: Bruce Jenner dominates the decathlon, setting a new world record.
 

A bronze medal from Moscow in 1980.

United States Medal Count: 0

1980 Olympic Highlight: The United States leads a 50-nation boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
 

A gold medal from Los Angeles in 1984.

United States Medal Count: 83 Gold, 61 Silver, 30 Bronze

1984 Olympic Highlight: Carl Lewis wins four gold medals in track and field, while gymnast Mary Lou Retton captures gold in the all-around competition.
 

A gold medal from Seoul in 1988.

United States Medal Count: 36 Gold, 31 Silver, 27 Bronze

1988 Olympic Highlight: Florence Griffith-Joyner wins three golds in track, and Greg Louganis dominates diving.
 

A gold medal from Barcelona in 1992.

United States Medal Count: 37 Gold, 34 Silver, 37 Bronze

1992 Olympic Highlight: USA Basketball’s “Dream Team” dominates an overmatched field, while Jennifer Capriati captures tennis gold at age 16.
 

A gold medal from Atlanta in 1996.

United States Medal Count: 44 Gold, 32 Silver, 25 Bronze

1996 Olympic Highlight: Wearing gold shoes, Michael Johnson wins the 200- and 400-meter sprints.
 

A bronze medal from Sydney in 2000.

United States Medal Count: 37 Gold, 24 Silver, 34 Bronze

2000 Olympic Highlight: Rulon Gardner wins gold in the super-heavyweight class of Greco-Roman wrestling. He defeats Russian legend Alexander Karelin, who had won the gold in the three previous Olympics.
 

A silver medal from Athens in 2004.

United States Medal Count: 36 Gold, 39 Silver, 27 Bronze

2004 Olympic Highlight: The U.S. women’s soccer team prevails as Mia Hamm makes her final Olympics appearance, and Michael Phelps wins six gold medals in swimming.
 

A gold medal from Beijing in 2008.

United States Medal Count: 36 Gold, 38 Silver, 36 Bronze

2008 Olympic Highlight: Phelps tops his stellar 2004 performance by winning an amazing eight golds in the pool.
 

A gold medal from the 2012 games in London, which take place from July 27 to August 12.

---By Patrick Snow (@AthlonSnowman)