Podium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 2004 film directed by Yann Moix, see Podium (film).
A podium (plural podia) is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. 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. Additionally, podium has commonly come to mean the object a speaker stands behind, even when it is at floor level, though the proper term for that item is a lectern.
One common type of podium is used to honour medalists in sporting 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. Some sports, most notably rowing shun podia, and the symbolism they represent.
Similar podia are used in motorsport, where the first three finishers will usually stand on one at the end of the race to receive trophies. Notable exceptions are the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 races which have different historic customs. In motor racing, the term is frequently used to refer to a top three placing (as in "he'll get a podium").
[edit] First use at Olympics
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.
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.
