This is the privilege offered to martial arts and combat sports. Four disciplines, yesterday five but karate left the Olympic program after Tokyo 2021, will distribute two bronze medals in each of its events. A habit that goes back quite a long way.
Boxing was the driving force behind this major change. Before the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, the two boxers beaten in the semi-finals would compete for the bronze medal. At its congress in Copenhagen in 1950, the International Boxing Federation (AIBA, now IBA), decided to cancel this match for third place.
The reason given? World boxing officials did not think it was prudent for the losing boxers to meet again only a day or two after their defeat. A decision that was followed a year later by the IOC. Thus, in a 1952 text, the official rapporteur wrote: “As recommended by AIBA, only the gold and silver medals were awarded. The losers of the semi-finals did not compete for the bronze medal, as before. Instead, both received diplomas. Their national flags were also hoisted during the protocol ceremonies.”
Thus, no bronze medals were awarded in boxing in 1952. An injustice that would be corrected eighteen years later. The Finnish federation was the initiator of this idea and six of the twenty forgotten bronze medalists of 1952 were finally honoured in Helsinki in April 1970 without the presence of the IOC. However, the IOC would end up that same year recognising and awarding these bronze medals from 1952 in its official count.
Several format changes in judo
Judo followed suit as soon as it entered the Olympic program in 1964 in Tokyo. For its first edition, judo imitated boxing by awarding two bronze medals to the semi-finalists. Absent in 1968 in Mexico, judo returned in 1972 in Munich and invented a repechage table, which is different from the one we know today. The competition was organized in the form of two separate tables.
Each table winner qualified directly for the semi-finals. The other two semi-finalists were the two winners of the repechage (concerning only the defeats of the two table winners). The two defeats in the semi-finals were bronze medalists.
Frenchman Luka Mkheidze won the bronze medal at the last Olympics. AFP/Franck Fife
The system changed again in 1980. This time, the winner of each table went directly to the final. In the repechage, all the losers of the two finalists were found to win the two bronze medals.
In 1992, the repechage system was opened to all the defeated of the four semi-finalists. In 2012, the repechages were limited to the defeated from the quarter-finals of the four semi-finalists. A system that is still current.
The fight has groped
After boxing and judo, it was taekwondo that applied the double silver medal as soon as it entered as a demonstration sport in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. In South Korea and Spain, the two defeated semi-finalists climbed onto the 3rd step of the podium.
In 2000 in Sydney, taekwondo was officially included in the Olympic program. It was during this edition that a repechage table was set up and only awarded a bronze medal to its winner from a tournament opposing only all the defeated of the two finalists. A system that was maintained for Athens 2004. From 2008, two medals were awarded to the two winners of the repechage. A system that is still in force.
The fourth sport to introduce the double medal is wrestling. Present since the first Games in 1896 in Athens (its only absence was in Paris 1900), wrestling waited until Beijing 2008 to follow suit. From 1896 to 1904, wrestling offered a classic table with a match for 3rd place between the two defeated in the semi-finals. In Stockholm 1908, a competition in the form of groups and over several rounds was introduced. A fighter is eliminated as soon as he is beaten twice. A system that allowed the establishment of a ranking.
In Antwerp 1920, wrestling invented a repechage table for both the silver medal (the finalist was not guaranteed second place) and the bronze medal. In 1932 in Los Angeles, wrestling created a points and handicap system, without using a classic table. A system that would last until… 1992.
In Barcelona, wrestling innovated again with a two-pool system, the two winners faced each other for the title and the two runners-up for the bronze medal. In 1996 in Atlanta, we returned to a classic direct elimination system, with a repechage table for the award of the single bronze medal including all the losers since the first round. In 2000 in Sydney, we returned to a pool system where each winner entered the direct elimination matches. The bronze medal was determined after the match of the losers in the semi-finals. A system unchanged for Athens 2004.
Then we arrive at Beijing 2008, which is the first edition with a double bronze medal for the wrestlers. All the defeated of the two finalists find themselves in the repechage table. A system still in force today.
Second Chance School
Finally, the fifth sport that introduced the double bronze medal system is karate. A discipline that will not be present at Paris 2024 and which was only present once at Tokyo 2020 as an additional sport. After a group stage, the competition then moved to the semi-finals where the two losers won bronze.
If for boxing, the introduction of a double bronze medal is justified for security reasons, in other disciplines, the school of second chances is put forward to erase any possible bad luck in the draw. Thus, if you come across a big guy, who blocks your path to a medal, you can catch up via the repechages.
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In other sports, several systems are in place. But they always award three medals, reserved for the first three. Thus, some sports (athletics, swimming, cycling, gymnastics, artistic swimming, canoe slalom, canoe sprint, diving, horse riding, rowing, shooting, skateboarding, sport climbing, triathlon, weightlifting) organize races until the final to determine a ranking.
Sailing and golf cultivate a difference
Other disciplines that take place on courts and fields (3×3 basketball, archery, badminton, softball/baseball, basketball, fencing, football, handball, hockey, rugby sevens, surfing, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, water polo) favour direct elimination competitions. The semi-finalists then compete for the sole bronze medal.
Finally, two sports have different systems, golf and sailing. For golf, all participants compete to determine a ranking. The elimination series are only used to decide between tied competitors. Finally, in sailing, all participants take part in about ten qualifying races. The top ten then compete in a final race which awards the three medals to the best.
