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There seems to be some confusion about whether Australian swimmer John Rigby (June 13) won a bronze medal in 1960. The article source and external link say he did, and I have also checked Olympics.com which says he did. Where's the evidence that he didn't? Editrite! (talk) 22:24, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
That says he swam in a heat, not that he didn't win a medal. Editrite! (talk) 21:54, 6 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Olympic swimming teams often use reserve swimmers to qualify for the final, then the elite team takes over for the final. All members who swim the qualifiers get the same nedal as the final team. [1]WWGB (talk) 23:23, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The IOC credits Rigby with a bronze medal. That is irrefutable. [2]WWGB (talk) 00:35, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
...even though, according to Allan Wood's article, heat swimmers weren't awarded medals until 1984. Wyliepedia @ 01:24, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The IOC also credits Wood with a bronze in 1960. Perhaps the rules were changed at some stage to award retrospective medals to heat swimmers. WWGB (talk) 01:46, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
For Rigby specifically, Olympedia acknowledges that he came in position "3", not "bronze" as it would usually indicate (and I don't think that's a casual typo by them). Therefore it seems clear to me that, at that time, in that year, heat competitors did not receive medals, even if they do now. Which is why I made the revert edit. I'm easy either way and won't be changing the status of the entry on the Deaths page again. Ref(chew)(do) 04:31, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Just to clarify whether Olympedia's failure to mention a medal was an oversight or not . . .it's irrelevant. At the risk of stating the obvious, if you finish third at the Olympics you're automatically awarded a bronze medal, as second is silver and first is gold. Editrite! (talk) 23:00, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I'm afraid it's not that simple. For example, the 1958 Rules and Regulations on page 25 stated: "In team events...members of these teams who have not participated in the final matches are given diplomas but no medals." Rules evolved over time, later on allowing medals for all players in league-type competitions, for example. Going through the archive in the external links above, I believe the rules finally changed in 1975 to allow "member of the winning team participating in at least one match or competition held during the Olympic Games" to receive medals (p 28). Aithus (talk) 00:59, 21 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Editrite!, you would be absolutely correct if heat competitors had "always" been awarded medals in Olympics gone by. But it was not so. Aithus has outlined the salient points. I don't think we should assume anything in that respect - each entry should be researched to ascertain whether they qualified for a medal or not in whichever year they competed. (Post-1975 Olympics would be a good starting point for medal awards to heat competitors, and Olympedia, far from being "irrelevant", appears to be spot-on in this case by failing to indicate a bronze.) My opinion (before anyone else brings it up) is that we should not assume in blanket fashion that a top three place generated a medal for any Olympic competitor. Everything on merit, as it happened historically. Ref(chew)(do) 14:18, 21 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The Olympic rules were actually amended for the 1984 Games. Until then medals were only awarded to competitors who actually competed in the final of a relay event not to those who competed in the heats. There has been a move by some national federations to retrospectively award medals to pre-84 heat swimmers but, as yet, it's been unsuccessful Topcardi (talk) 09:29, 1 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
