Sought-after winner's medal issued for the Antwerp 1920 Olympics. Bronze, 60 mm, 81 gm, by Josue Dupon. The front shows a victorious athlete holding a laurel wreath and palm branch, with a statue of Renommee in the background, inscribed "VII Olympiade"; the reverse depicts the Brabo fountain above the Antwerp shield, with the Cathedral of Our Lady and city looming in the background, inscribed above, "Anvers MCMXX." Tiny holes have been drilled into the top and bottom rims.
A total of 29 nations attended the VII Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium, with Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire all banned from competing due to their involvement in World War I and the cancelation of the 1916 Games. In spite of such political unrest, the return of the Games debuted a trinity of enduring Olympic traditions—the voicing of the Olympic Oath, the symbolic release of doves, and the initial flying of the Olympic flag. An exceptional third place medal of the utmost historical interest and rarity.
