What happened to the pewter medal?

Arianne

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Mar 26, 2004

• Dec 10, 2004

• #1

The "pewter" (fourth place) medal used to be awarded at U.S. nationals. What has happened to this medal? Is it still ever awarded? Do any other competitions ever award this medal? Some people don't even believe me when I tell them that the pewter medal exists!

Arianne

 

dlkksk8fan

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #2

They still award the pewter medal.

 

Arianne

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #3

Oh, I didn't realize it was still awarded. I guess I haven't seen it the past few years.

 

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lulu

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #4

Yes, they still award it. US nats(Junior/Senior) I believe are the only time the pewter medal is given out though.

 

dlkksk8fan

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #5

They give out pewter medals at US sectionals too.

 

brad640

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #6

The pewter medal looks like the silver medal only smaller. The pewter medalist stands beside the medals podium. They also awarded one at the 1994 Worlds to Surya Bonaly.

 

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SkateFan4Life

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #7

Arianne said:

The "pewter" (fourth place) medal used to be awarded at U.S. nationals. What has happened to this medal? Is it still ever awarded? Do any other competitions ever award this medal? Some people don't even believe me when I tell them that the pewter medal exists!

Arianne

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The pewter medal is still awarded for the fourth-place finishers at US Natioanals.
The men's men's podium from this past season, for example, shows all four medalists - Johhny Weir (gold), Michael Weiss (silver), Matt Savoie (bronze), and Ryan Jahnke (pewter). The fourth-place finisher does not qualify for the World or Olympic teams (assuming that three singles, pairs, and dance teams qualify - which frankly isn't going to happen for the pairs and dance teams), so the person and/or team who finishes fourth doesn't receive much in the way of fanfare.

 

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Sylvia

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #8

The pewter medal is awarded at U.S. Nationals (Novice/Junior/Senior), "Junior" Nationals (Juvenile/Intermediate), and at all Regional and Sectional Championships.

Link to podium photos at last week's Junior Nationals:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/even...ntent/events/200405/usjrchamps/pics/pics5.htm

 

Last edited: Dec 10, 2004

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nicole_l

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #9

Many non-qualifying competitions award ribbons instead of pewter medals. I don't know if this is just a New England thing or if clubs do this around the country, though.

 

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dr.frog

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #10

brad640 said:

The pewter medal looks like the silver medal only smaller. The pewter medalist stands beside the medals podium. They also awarded one at the 1994 Worlds to Surya Bonaly.

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Huh? Bonaly won the silver medal at 1994 Worlds. That was the whole episode where she threw a hissy fit during the medal ceremony (was disappointed she didn't win) and took off her medal and stepped off the podium to protest.

I'm also pretty certain that the pewter medals they hand out at US Nationals are exactly the same size as the other medals.

 

Last edited: Dec 10, 2004

RealtorGal

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• #11

And here I thought that Surya had been awarded the WHINEY BABY medal that year!

 

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skatingfan5

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #12

USFS pewter medalists

As others have already posted, pewter medals are still given for U.S. regional, sectional, and national championships. Here's a podium picture of the senior ladies from 2004:
http://www.usfsa.org/content/events/200304/uschamps/senior/ladies-medals.jpg
I was hoping that the medals would be visible because the pewter medal is the same size as the others -- it isn't the exact same color as the silver medal, but is similar in tone.

In the picture of all the podiums from the recent U.S. junior national championships, if you look at the intermediate pairs podium, you can see the medals for the gold, silver, and pewter medalists and they all are the same size. Also, the pewter medalist has a podium step, too. They do not stand "beside the podium."
http://www.usfsa.org/event_related_details.asp?ri=content/events/200405/usjrchamps/pics/pics5.htm
Sorry, I just noticed that a link to this page had already been posted.

 

Last edited: Dec 10, 2004

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sk8er1964

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #13

My adult sectionals pewter medal (qualifying event) was the same size and type as the others, and as far as I know, the same style as the ones given to the "kids". For adults, at least, the 4 medalists are the ones who move on to the championship event at Adult Nationals, so the pewter medal is very important.

 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

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• #14

RealtorGal said:

And here I thought that Surya had been awarded the WHINEY BABY medal that year!

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:agree: I love it :agree:

 

icy fresh

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #15

I've competed all across my region, and there have been some competitions that hand them out and some that don't. Most do, though. The pewter that I won one year was smaller in siZe and the ribbon it was hung on wasn't as long as the others.

 

Mathman

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #16

sk8er1964 said:

My adult sectionals pewter medal (qualifying event) was the same size and type as the others, and as far as I know, the same style as the ones given to the "kids". For adults, at least, the 4 medalists are the ones who move on to the championship event at Adult Nationals, so the pewter medal is very important.

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If I am not mistaken, that was the reason that USFS invented the pewter medal in the first place. They wanted to give out four prizes because the top four were the ones who got to move on to the next level of competition.

Mathman

PS. Factoid: The difference between pewter and bronze, both alloys of copper and tin, is that bronze is mostly copper with a little tin, while pewter is mostly tin with a little copper.

 

Last edited: Dec 10, 2004

Mathman

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #17

RealtorGal said:

And here I thought that Surya had been awarded the WHINEY BABY medal that year!

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I never blamed Surya for that. The ideal that lady figure skaters should just stand and grin cutely in the face of perceived bias and skullduggery on the part of the judges and the figure skating establishment -- I don't know, is that good sportmanship, or is it just being a wimp and a sucker?

MM

 

brad640

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #18

Mathman said:

I never blamed Surya for that. The ideal that lady figure skaters should just stand and grin cutely in the face of perceived bias and skullduggery on the part of the judges and the figure skating establishment -- I don't know, is that good sportmanship, or is it just being a wimp and a sucker?

MM

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Surya had every right to protest, but the medal ceremony was Yuka Sato's moment and Surya could have chosen to show more respect for her competitor.

 

Mathman

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• Dec 10, 2004

• #19

Nah, she should have hit Yuka over the head with a chair. That's what figure skating needs more of.

BTW, welcome to the forum, Brad!

MM

 

Last edited: Dec 10, 2004

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bleuchick

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• Dec 11, 2004

• #20

I apologize in advance for not knowing but what is the USFA's reason for giving out pweter medals?