2020 Tokyo Olympic Medals Expanded

Every two years, the arguments for a 4th place medal arise.  This persistent expansion, is loved by many.  There are several good reasons for expansion.  Namely it fits the way of the Olympics and mirrors the flag of the Olympics.  There are five rings so let's have five medals? Note that Pewter like silver, gold, bronze and copper is mostly made of tin and was known to the ancients.

Let me repeat the argument...

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FIVE RINGS = FIVE MEDALS

The original spirit of the new games was to come together in healthy competition and community, not necessarily for a medal count. So here is a suggestion, since there are five rings why not five medals?

Fourth and fifth place certainly deserve something for their fortitude and so close effort! They don't even have to stand on the podium or get their flags raised. But maybe they can stand on the flanking left and right sides? Also if it's a team sport then only one member of the team can stand by the podium. When the Olympics started in 1896 there weren't as many nations participating as their are today. In fact their were only 14 nations, now there are over 200 participating nations.

5 Olympic Rings match with 5 Olympic Medals

So what would the metals be made up of? It really does not matter but it would make sense to have them made up of the constituent elements of bronze. Thus fourth place gets copper while fifth place gets tin.

So that would make 6th place the unlucky duck who just missed out..... but not completely!

Another idea that would take focus away from the national obsession for trophies, is to give out awards to the best 24 competitors. Since the Games are based on Greek culture why not give out ring trophies to the top 24 competitors? Just wait till you hear how we would do this!

24 Olympic Achievement Rings based on the Greek Alphabet from Alpha to Omega, for the top 24 places.

First it will promote Greek Culture, and thus the world will become familiar with Greek letters. Second, we all enjoy the games because of the Greeks, it's the right thing to do to honor the Greeks. Finally all those athletes who sacrificed so much certainly deserve something.


Thus 1st place gets the Alpha ring, the 2nd place gets the Beta ring, 3rd gets a Gamma ring, 4th gets a Delta ring, and 5th gets an Epsilon ring in addition to their medals the receive already.

6th place to 24th would not get a medal but only rings of their respective position. 6th gets a ring with Eta on it while 24th position gets a ring with Omega on it. The person or team in 25th does not get a Greek Ring, but only a token participant ring. 

Doing this is in the spirit of the games for community and healthy competition, and in respect to the Greeks who started these games. If this is done, people all over the world will eventually know the Greek Alphabet through osmosis (my favorite Greek word).

If they ever expand the medal reward system, why not also crown 1st place with a wreath of olives too? Apparently in the original Greek Games only the winner received this olive branch token. Medals for 1st let alone 2nd and 3rd were modern contrivances.


Besides, wearing an Olympic medal in public after the games are over is a wee bit ostentatious, no? But the athletes who placed in the top 24 positions can still strut their stuff and inspire others with "Official Place Position Olympic Rings."

The rings of fist five places should match their medal position. Thus 1st place gets a golden ring, 2nd a silver ring, 3rd a bronze ring, 4th a copper ring, and 5th a tin ring. Places 6th and below get a regular ring made out of a less expensive metal than tin or some alloy of it.


These men and women worked hard and sacrificed time, money, and certain aspects of their youth. They deserve something. If any of these ideas are adopted then former Olympic athletes can easily show others a humble memento and inspire.

They can keep the fire of the Olympics shining wherever they go.

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Look at my fingers! One, two, three, four, and five! I said five medals for the next Olympics! There are five rings! Thus the top five athletes get a medal! Otherwise you'll get a lightening bolt up your... you know where!
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Did you know that expanding the medal reward system has already happened for the modern Olympics? The first two Olympics at Athens & Paris only gave out official medals for first and second. And they did not give out any gold. Instead first place received a silver medal and second place got a bronze medal. If you placed third – you got nada.

It wasn’t until the first American Olympics in St. Louis that gold medals were handed out. So if you think we shouldn’t add medals for fourth or fifth just because it breaks with tradition – tradition has already been broken. 

Furthermore, when you do the math on the ratio of prizes to participating nations the shift in numbers is staggering. During the first modern Olympics there were 14 participating nations competing for 2 medals (first and second). This leads to a 1 out of 7 chance of randomly winning a medal. Basically, if things were led to chance a nation had a 14% chance of winning a medal.* When they started handing out gold medals for first place at the St. Louis Olympics the ratio actually increased to about 1 to 4, because there were 3 medals to win for 12 participating nations (25% chance). Fast forward to the Rio-2016 Olympics with 206 participating nations – the ratio of winning a medal is about 1 to 69. In terms of a percentages that’s about a 1% chance of winning a medal.
 

Let’s say they expand to five medals for the top five places, the ratio changes to about 1 to 42, raising the chances of winning a medal a measly 2%. So if you are worried that giving fourth and fifth a medal will devalue 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd - is one percent a big fuss? 
 

Now when you calculate the 24 ring-alphabet awards with 2016-Rio Olympic numbers the pure chance ratio of winning ring is about 1 to 8.5 – which is only 12%. Note 12% is a lot closer to the original ratio or percentage of the first modern Olympics at Athens.
 

So why not!? Think of all that hard work and sacrifice those athletes put into their training – the heartache, time, tears, sweat, and blood. Certainly they deserve a better shot at winning a medal or at least snatching a humble token of their dedication and fortitude. The time has come to expand the Olympic medal reward system. 

An expanded idea for the Olympic rings is that all participants get a ring.  If they place 24 or higher they get a Greek letter carved in it, if they place 5th or higher they get a medal.  Athletes who place 25th or below get a ring with logo of the host nations choosing, perhaps the year, place, and logo.  Thus all athletes get a ring, some will get the generic participant ring, some will get a Greek lettered ring, while a few will get a coveted gold, silver, bronze, copper, and tin ring.  

Finally since the Olympic flag has five rings - five medals make a harmonious whole for the five 'official' continents.  This idea is consistent with the official Olympic Creed:

"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE OLYMPICS IS NOT TO WIN BUT TO TAKE PART, JUST AS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE IS NOT THE TRIUMPH BUT THE STRUGGLE.  THE ESSENTIAL THING IS NOT TO HAVE CONQUEORED BUT TO HAVE FOUGHT WELL"  -PIERRE DE COUBERTIN


Image Source Podium: https://www.rt.com/news/russia-figure-skating-win-770/ 

Medals Awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th - Matching the 5 Rings, Medals - Mantra : Russian 2014 Olympics

1	Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov	Russia
2	Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy	Germany
3	Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov	Russia
4	Pang Qing / Tong Jian	China
5	Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford	Canada

Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov

 Russia

Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy

 Germany

Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov

 Russia

Pang Qing / Tong Jian

 China

Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford

 Canada

Don't Tread on Me - Pitfall Rattle Snake Flag on the Atari 2600

One of the first and most famous snakes to appear in matrix of video games was in the 1982 classic by Activison: Pitfall!  One of the many deadly hazards that the player had to avoid was the coiled up black snake.

It just happens to be perfect match for a fun Gadsden Flag.   Video games have come a long way.  Many people, from kids to adults from the 1980s and 1990s, said they were fad.  But look at them now.  Electronic interactive games make more money than Hollywood, nowadays.  No doubt in the next 30 years today's games will be as exciting as the old Atari 2600 games.





https://www.activision.com/

Atari's H.E.R.O. Video Game Livery from 1984

One of the best games from the Golden Age of the Consul from Atari was H.E.R.O.  However, due to the crash of video games in 1983, this wonder hero — Roderick Hero — was lost in the shrinking sauce as an icon of Atari age.  Instead Pitfall Harry is perhaps the best Original Atari Idol to make into the modern age.  In many ways Roderick (R. Hero) has superior game play and challenge that meets today's standard of game play.  Really, if you HAVE a chance to play this game, it is worth your time.  This is a golden nugget from the Golden Age of Video Games, that deserves its rightful place in the lore of Classic Video Games.  Generations yet to be born will no doubt enjoy this game, it starts off easy... but as it progresses in difficulty... only the hardcore gamer can finish this unsung masterpiece.

Many classic Atari icons were already established in the Arcade or movies.  However, Roderick like Pitfall Harry are Original Atari  Ambassadors.  Although Roderick was never seen with a flag, he did have certain kind of livery that was visible on his helmet: a yellow-greenish lightning bolt on blue.  Helmet livery was popular long ago and is a standard device to show a person's identity or affiliation, just look at the helmet livery in the NFL.

The lightening bolt on blue neat unique choice for a sigil.  Nonetheless it makes R. Hero a standout among the many icons that use bolts of thunder to represent their cause or person.

Soldier 1998 - Flags in that over cooked 80s released in the 90s sci-fi movie

 

In the movie 1998 several flags appear in this dystopian future, where a secret program trains soldiers from birth to become stoic and efficient killing machines.  The first flag of note is the youth pennant which has a red field and logo of the organization responsible for breeding cradle to grave soldiers.  The logo is a star with a lightning bolt.  Around the bolt with star the organization in written in Spanish and English: American Forces, Fuersas Americanos.

Here is a close of the logo, of the paramilitary breeding program.

In a hangar you can see the logo with a red star and yellow lightning bolt.

A blue flag is just visible in this image.  It is impossible to make out any detail.  However, it is a good be that it has the logo of the dictator youth group.

Hanging in the bay are several long banners cut at an angle.  The flags are white and the imprint is blue.

Mr. Do's 1982 Video Game Flags

What do you get when you combine Pac-Man with Dig Dug and a few elements of pinball?  Well, back in 1982 you get a classic video game called Mr. Do!  Mr. Do and the classic pinball feature of an extra ball or game when you spelled out a certain letter by hitting certain pins.  This carried over in Mr. Do's first game.  When you spelled out EXTRA by getting the Letter TV-Monster Ghosts you got an extra life.  But it was delivered with exciting fanfare of a cut scene.  One of the Yoshi like baddies can be seen waving a white flag and gives you an extra life.

Flags also appeared in Mr. Do's Wild Ride.  Flags act an end point goals, as they do in when playing golf.

The GOAL flag has a red orange colour that seems to have yellow stripes.

Ground Hog Day flag in Jeep's Commerical with Bill Murray

In 1993 the best of the best Ground Hog Day movies was created, starring Bill Murray.  27 years later Murray would reprise his role in the perfectly timed Super Bowl that was aligned with the most precious holidays of American holidays, Ground Hog Day 2020.   

Of vexillological interest are two flags that can be seen flapping in the upper left hand corner when Phil steals Phil the ground squirrel of Punxsutawney.  There is an orange and green flag in the background.

If you have not seen the movie, it is must watch.  The relatively new sci-genre of repeating the same day or moment plot device captured the essence of these theme perfectly.  Basically, Bill Murray repeats the same day over and over again.  If you did not see the movie, it will be hard to appreciate and understand this commercial.

The Grand OG original repeating time plot is based on the story 12:01pm where a man repeats the same hour, over and over again.  But Ground Hog Day was perfectly preachy without being preachy.  There was no direct exposition on how to live ones life, but the story reveals its message naturally...which is something modern movies have a hard time doing these days.....no narrator, no text crawl.....just an organic......use your own brain kind of movie.

1780 Black Camp Flag - Post Historical

During the US Revolution, the choice of loyalty versus rebellion was cast upon all the peoples of North America.  Easy it is to assume ones point of view.  Many states were bitterly divided.  One of the most divided families was that of Benjamin Franklin, the penultimate founding father of the United States.  Franklin's son William Franklin, sided with the loyalists and never reconciled with his father, so it has been American fathers and sons are destined to be at odds.

In southern Delaware a band of loyalists started a counter-rebellion against the fledgling US in the summer of 1780, that lasted a month.  It is known as the 1780 Black Camp Rebellion.  Perhaps they had a flag, maybe not?  But note, this is a post historical flag created today, on the official day of Brexit became legal, January 31, 2020.

The flag has a black diamond in honor of the name of the rebellion, the 1780 Black Camp Rebellion.  The date is July 15, 1780 whence the rebellion started in full.  In the central area is what the UK flag looked like in during the US revolution.  There are two supporters of the flag, that are blue hens.  Above the flag is a royal crown.  Below the flag are the words "Loyalty" and "Honor."  Overall it echo the design of the official state flag of Delaware by the shape only and blue field.

This is a post-historical flag made with the intention to teach and bring an element of history alive.  The men who participated in the 1780 Black Camp Rebellion, did not fly this flag.  This flag is meant to be a teaching tool to underscore a real event in history.  Apparently, all the Delaware loyalist rebels were caught and many were sentenced to death, to be chopped up into four quarters... but they were later pardoned, since no one was killed during their 'mini rebellion' against the major rebellion.

This is an educational type of flag, that is also a reminder that history is always being retold and rewritten as the narrative is continually edited and redacted by modern voices. 


https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/10/general-john-dagworthy-george-washingtons-forgotten-american-rival/





image of blue hen source:
http://statebirds.blogspot.com/2009/06/delaware-state-bird-blue-hen-chicken.html