A bronze medal from the 1980 Summer Olympics

A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions) such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri, prior to which only first and second places were awarded.

Olympic Games[link]

Minting Olympic medals is the responsibility of the host city. From 1928-1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. From 1972-2000, Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was originally a Greek game, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens 2004 Games. Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design.

In a few tournament sports, such as boxing and judo, two bronze medals are awarded in each event - one for each eliminated semi-finalist or for the winners of the repechage brackets.

Psychological study[link]

In 1995, a study was carried out by social psychologists Victoria Medvec, Scott Madey and Thomas Gilovich on the effects of counterfactual thinking on the Olympics. The study showed that athletes who won the bronze medal were significantly happier with their winning than those athletes who won the silver medal. The silver medalists were more frustrated because they had missed the gold medal, while the bronze medalists were simply happy to have received any honors at all (instead of no medal for fourth place) [1]. This is more pronounced in knockout competitions, such as the FIFA World Cup, where the bronze medals are achieved by winning a playoff, whereas silver medals are awarded after a defeat in the final.

See also[link]

• Third place playoff
• Gold medal
• Silver medal

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bronze medals

• Medal Designs for all Olympic Games

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Simon Francis Dumont (born July 9, 1986) is a U.S. freestyle skier.

Dumont in 2010

Medal record
Competitor for the  United States
Men's Freestyle skiing
FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships
Bronze	2011 Deer Valley	Halfpipe
Winter X Games
Gold	2004 Aspen	Superpipe
Gold	2005 Aspen	Superpipe
Gold	2009 Aspen	Big Air
Gold	2009 Fairmont	Railjam
Silver	2007 Aspen	Superpipe
Silver	2008 Aspen	Superpipe
Bronze	2009 Aspen	Superpipe
Bronze	2011 Aspen	Superpipe

Skiing[link]

Dumont is notable as one of the best freestyle skiers in the world today.^{[citation needed]} He is known for his amplitude in half-pipe competitions, airing easily up to 20 feet out of the pipe, and doing superman double fronts. Dumont had a rough season in 2006-07 when he overshot a 100-foot jump in Park City, Utah, by some eighty feet, landing flat, rupturing his spleen and breaking his pelvis in three places, although he was back up and skiing two months later.^{[citation needed]} In 2009 he also won the X Games Big Air competition stomping a double front flip.^{[citation needed]}

He has participated in many freestyle events, mostly big air and half-pipe, and was part of Team America for the Jon Olsson Super Sessions (JOSS) along with American freestyle skiers Tom Wallisch, and Alex Schlopy. They have withdrawn from all future JOSS events because of an argument with Olsson about the release date of their video for JOSS.

In 2008, Jon Olsson and Dumont announced their involvement in a new open freeskiing event, the North American Open, at Breckenridge, Colorado. He also participates in Jon Olsson's Super Sessions competition where skiers from each country compete to try to make the best ski video (JOSS).

He was added to the US Freestyle ski team for the men's superpipe in the 2014 Winter Olympics. «»=== World quarterpipe record === On April 11, 2008, Simon Dumont set the current world quarter-pipe height record at Sunday River in Bethel, Maine. He aired 35.5 feet out of a 38-foot quarter-pipe, while performing a cork 900 tail grab.^[1] Previous attempts earlier in the week had resulted in Dumont falling 55 feet after hitting an over-vert section of the quarter-pipe. On other various attempts, Simon hit the snow with a flat landing, severely bruising his heel in the process. On April 22, 2008, Dumont was a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show where he discussed his record-setting performance.

Dumont Cup[link]

On April 11, 2009, Dumont hosted what was called the inaugural occasion of an annual contest for skiers ranging in age from about 8 to 18 at Sunday River.^[2] A specific course was set out for the contest with a combination of rails, boxes, and jumps. All entrants had a chance to qualify for the final few runs with pro skiers like Dumont, with a chance to win a spot on the podium. The first-place prize was $10,000,^{[citation needed]} won by American freestyle skier Tom Wallisch.

The second edition of the Dumont Cup was held on March 27, 2010, and was won by amateur freeskier Alex Schlopy. Schlopy out-skied 105 amateur athletes to gain entry into today's semi-finals and finals. During finals, Schlopy and nine others competed against such freeski professionals as Simon Dumont, Peter Olenick, Jossi Wells, and Henrik Harlaut. Schlopy was joined on the podium with Joss Christianson from Park City, Utah who took second place and the 2009 winner of the first-ever Dumont Cup, Tom Wallisch from Salt Lake City, Utah, who took third. Schlopy walked away with $12,000 in cash plus a one-week scholarship to Camp Woodward, an action sports camp and training facility located in Woodward, Penn.

On March 26, 2011 Dumont hosted the 3rd Dumont Cup, changing up the course from the previous years. Nick Goepper got first followed by Gus Kensworthy and Jacob Wester in second and third.

Auto racing[link]

On April 25th, 2009, Simon participated in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup season opening race at Virginia International Raceway as a guest driver in the Red Bull-sponsored #10.^[3] Qualifying 25th, he moved up six positions to finish 19th in the 30-minute race. After his performance, Simon commented on a possible future in road racing, saying:

"The entire experience was way more than I ever imagined that it would be. The first time for me to get in a professional-level racecar was yesterday, and I'm definitely hooked," said Dumont. "My goal heading into this was to try to be competitive and not finish last, and I accomplished both goals. I'm going to do some work with my personal sponsors when I get home to see if I might be able to give the series a try full time next year."^[4]

Simon also expressed interest in racing full time after retiring from skiing.^[3]

Personal[link]

Dumont was born in Bethel, Maine on July 9th, 1986, to Francis and Barbara Dumont. Simon has an older brother, a younger sister, and a multitude of cousins. Dumont weighs 150 lbs. and is 5'7" tall.^[5]

He attended Telstar Regional High School in Bethel, where he graduated in 2004. He was a participant in the school's golf program as well as a star soccer player. His home ski resort is Sunday River. Simon also was a child model, and at one point even auditioned for Home Alone three.

Business[link]

Simon's sponsors include: Target^[6], Oakley, Toyota, Nike 6.0, Red Bull, Giro, Kicker, Head skis, Sunday River Ski Resort.^{[citation needed]}

Dumont opened up his own clothing company, Empire Attire, in 2008. With his own company, he strives to create things "made by the athletes for the athletes." His company has been successful so far, and has their own website EmpireAttire.com. He has just recently released his line of 2010 products for purchase online. He is also a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Press[link]

He was featured in the January 24, 2008, issue of Rolling Stones article on the X Games:

He first became recognized at the X Games when he was fifteen. At sixteen he competed in Honda Sessions at Vail Resort in Colorado. At seventeen, he won his first gold medals. At age eighteen, he was badly injured in a failed jump at Park City. The video of that crash -- he plummets eighty feet to the ground -- became an internet phenomenon. Dumont admits he's lucky to be alive. He fractured his pelvis and ruptured his spleen, but just six weeks later he returned to the slopes. Dumont, now 23, figures he's got 3 years of freestyle left in him. "Then I'd like to go backcountry and start landing in powder," he says, "it doesn't hurt so much."^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Simon Shreds Interview with Simon Dumont in The Ski Journal, issue 2.4 (requires subscription)

SimonDumont.com Simon Dumont's official website.

[1] Information on the World Record Quarterpipe jump