King Gustav V of Sweden delivers a speech from a podium

A podium (plural podia) is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many public speakers. Podium has also come to mean the object a speaker stands behind and sets papers or books upon^[1] even when it is at floor level, though the correct term for that item is lectern. The terms are not identical; one typically stands on a podium, but one typically stands behind a lectern.

In sports, a type of podium is used to honor the top three competitors in events such as the Olympics. In the Olympics a three level podium is used, the highest level in the centre holds the gold medalist, to their right is a somewhat lower one for the silver medalist. To the left of the gold medalist is an even lower platform for the bronze medalist. In many sports, results in the top three of a competition are often referred to as podiums, or podium finishes. In some individual sports, "podiums" is an official statistic, referring to the number of top three results an athlete has achieved over the course of a season or career.

First use at Olympics[link]

According to Professor Emeritus Robert K. Barney, the University of Western Ontario's founding director of Western's International Centre for Olympic Studies, the idea of having winning athletes mount a podium while they received their medals, is a Canadian idea born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930.^{[citation needed]}

Professor Barney's 25-page research paper in the International Journal of Olympic Studies indicates podia were first used at the 1930 British Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games) in Hamilton and subsequently during the 1932 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles and Winter Games in Lake Placid.

Usage in motorsport[link]

A Formula One podium. The winner stands in the middle, with the second placed driver to his right and the third place driver to his left. Also present are the dignitaries who will present the trophies.

In many forms of motorsport, the three top-placed drivers in a race stand on a podium for the trophy ceremony. In an international series, the national anthem of the winning driver, and the winning team or constructor may be played and the flags of the drivers' countries are hoisted above them.

Following the presentation of the trophies, the drivers will often spray champagne over each other and their team-members watching below, a tradition started by Dan Gurney following the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans race.^[2] The drivers will generally refrain from spraying champagne if a fatality or major accident occurs during the event.

The term has become common parlance in the media, where a driver may be said to "be heading for a podium finish" or "just missing out on a podium" when he is heading for, or just misses out on a top three finish.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the highest level of stock car racing in the United States, does not have a three-person podium. Instead the winning driver and team celebrate in victory lane.

The IRL IndyCar Series does not use a podium at the Indianapolis 500 or the Bombardier Learjet 550. The Indy 500 has a long tradition of the winning driver and team celebrating in victory lane, while Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage has stated that victory lane should be reserved for the winner of the race.^[3] However, the series does use a podium at all other races, particularly road course events.

References[link]

See also[link]

• Lectern

Ben Bostrom
Nationality	American
Born	(1974-05-07) May 7, 1974 (age 38) Redding, California
Current team	Jordan Motorsports
Bike number	23
Website	BenBostrom.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2011 Manufacturers Honda Championships 0 2011 Championship position NC (0 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 1 0 0 0 0 0 Superbike World Championship Active years 1998–2002, 2005 Manufacturers Honda, Ducati Championships 0 2005 Championship position 15th (58 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 104 7 17 2 5 872

Benjamin "Ben" Bostrom (born May 7, 1974) is an American motorcycle racer.

The son of Dave and nephew of Paul Bostrom, both successful dirt-track racers, Bostrom began his career in the same fashion by winning the AMA National 600 Dirt Track Championship in 1993. He moved to road racing in 1995.

Bostrom captured the AMA Superbike championship as a Honda rider in 1998, without winning a race. A year later Bostrom, astride a Ducati and still racing full time in the AMA series, won a Laguna Seca World Superbike race (and finished second in another) as a wild card entry.

Bostrom first raced full time in the Superbike World Championship in 2000 on a factory Ducati. In 2001 he won an unexpected 6 races, including 5 in a row on a factory L&M Ducati, to finish third overall. Bostrom did not win a race in 2002, and scored weaker results as the season progressed.

For 2003 Bostrom returned to the domestic series for American Honda on an RC51, staying there in 2004 on the brand new Honda Fireblade CBR1000. He finished 4th in AMA Superbike in both years. He made a return to international racing for 2005, with the Renegade Honda team in the World Superbike Championship, but was not successful. He qualified slowest of the 28 international entries in Qatar at the first round, but scored a few top ten finishes during the season to come 14th overall.

Bostrom returned to Ducati as Neil Hodgson's teammate for the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship. Ducati withdrew from the AMA Superbike Championship at the end of 2006, leaving Bostrom to join the Yamaha/Graves Motorsports team in 2007 for a rebuilding year, riding in the AMA Superstock Championship, where he finished second in points, though unable to score a win.

In 2008, Ben Bostrom switched from Superstock to Supersport and led the Graves Motorsports Yamaha team to an AMA championship in the 600cc class. At Virginia International Raceway that year, Bostrom finished 2nd and gave his trophy to Sam Koup (the Grandson of racer Larry Koup), and distributed his champagne bottle and hats to others. Bostrom went on to win the 2008 Supersport Championship for under the Graves Motorsports banner. This was the last year of the AMA series before ownership transferred to the Daytona Motorsports Group, and the 600cc class was renamed AMA Daytona Sportbike.

For 2009, Bostrom raced a 1000cc Yamaha YZF-R1 in the American Superbike class. He also moonlighted in select 600cc events, including the season opener, Daytona 200, in which he took 1st place.

In addition to Superbike, Bostrom races Supermoto- a multi-discipline format involving off-road, flat track and road-racing in one event. Bostrom won the 2004 AMA Supermoto championship and the gold medal at the inaugural X-Games Supermoto competition. The X-Games race (whose field included European Supermoto Champion Eddy Seel and seven-time Supercross champ, Jeremy McGrath) saw Bostrom win after nearly tipping over five laps from the finish. Ben also dabbles in journalism with an article entitled "Boz Bros Chronicles" which is featured in 2Wheel Tuner Magazine each month as well as Sportbikeclub.com, You can visit the Boz bros personal profiles and stay up to date with their latest adventures at http://my.sportbikeclub.com/bozbros

His brother, Eric Bostrom, is also an AMA rider.

Career statistics[link]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing[link]

By Seasons[link]

By class[link]

Races by year[link]

(key)

AMA Pro Racing[link]

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY		FON		RAT		INF		RAM		M-O		LAG	VIR		N-J		BAR		Pts	Pos
				R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2010	SBK	Pat Clark Motorsports	Yamaha R1	18	3	8	6	4	17	2	2	7	6	2	4	1	2	2					274*	4th*

• * season in progress

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY	FON		RAT		BAR		INF		RAM		LAG	M-O		HRT		VIR		N-J		Pts	Pos
				R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2009	SBK	Graves Motorsports	Yamaha R1	6	7	5	8	8	3	3	9	2	3	5	5	4	2	2	19	3	3	4	23	333	5th

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY	BAR	FON	INF	MIL	RAM	LAG	M-O	VIR	RAT	LAG	Pts	Pos
2008	SS	Graves Motorsports	Yamaha R6	1	2	1	1	21	1	1	1	2	3	2	361	1st

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY	BAR	FON	INF	RAM	MIL	LAG	M-O	VIR	RAT	LAG	Pts	Pos
2007	SStk	Graves Motorsports	Yamaha R1	2	3	4	3	4	2	N/A	C	4	2	3	264	2nd

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY	BAR		FON		INF		RAM		MIL		LAG	M-O		VIR		RAT		M-O	Pts	Pos
				R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1
2006	SBK	Parts Unlimited Ducati	Ducati 999R	7	9	6	7	7	6	7	8	7	3	DNF	7	20	26	11	6	20	7	4	391	9th

Year	Class	Team	Bike	DAY	FON		INF		BAR		PPK	RAM		BRD	LAG	M-O		RAT		VIR		Pts	Pos
				R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1	R2	R1	R1	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2004	SBK	Parts Unlimited Honda	Honda CBR1000RR	DNF	DNF	5	4	5	DNF	5	5	4	5	5	1	4	2	3	3	3	3	422	4th

External links[link]

• BozBros.com - Official Bostrom Brothers site
• www.gravesport.com - Official Graves Motorsports site