Scarce winner's medal issued for the Paris 1900 Olympics. Silvered bronze, 56 gm, 42 mm x 60 mm, by Frederic Vernon, Paris. The front, inscribed "Republique Francaise, Exposition Universelle, Paris 1900," features a winged goddess scattering laurels over the grounds of the Exposition; the reverse identifies the event as gymnastics, “Gymnastique Fete de L'association de la Seine,” and depicts a victorious athlete upon a podium. Stamped "Bronze" on the edge.
Exclusive to men, the gymnastics event consisted of 16 exercises, many of them being two competitions of the same discipline, and included a number of athletics events and a weightlifting competition. In the end, the three top prizes were taken by French athletes, a group that dominated the field with 108 of the 135 competing athletes.
