How do you color Olympic success?
If you're preoccupied by swimmer Michael Phelps' multi-medal quest, the debate about gymnast Paul Hamm or the U.S. women's softball team, you may think gold.
Yet some of the most memorable moments this week have accompanied Olympic silver and bronze medals: Picture Lauryn Williams winning the silver in the 100 meters, or Deena Kastor's overwhelmed expression as she ran toward her third-place finish in the marathon.
Although it's unlikely we'll soon see bronze medalists in VISA commercials, being second or third can bring instant gratification. Down the road, however, will being an Olympic runner-up count? Will signing fewer autographs mean less self-esteem?
"I was `silver McKee' way before my hair went this color," jokes 51-year-old Tim McKee, a swimmer who earned three silver medals for the United States in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. "Like everything else in life, winning medals is how you interpret it. If you interpret a gold medal as being your identity, that's what it will be. If you have six and you don't think it's a big deal, it's not a big deal.
"I personally didn't make it a big deal."
The record books did, however. In 1972, McKee tied for a gold medal with Swedish swimmer Gunnar Larsson. The event was the 400-meter individual medley, the venue was the Olympic pool in Munich. For eight minutes, the scoreboard listed the official time for both swimmers as 4:31:98.
Then, for the only time in Olympic swimming history, the judges decided to break the first place tie by measuring the race in thousandths of a second. In a highly controversial decision, Larsson was awarded the gold. Since then, similar ties have merited two gold medals.
Although it's difficult to imagine an Olympics without a medal controversy - this year it seems to be Paul Hamm's gold in men's gymnastics - the Gold, Silver and Bronze Age is merely in its infancy.
In ancient times, only first-place Olympians were recognized, usually with a crown fashioned from olive branches. At the first modern Olympics in 1896, the winner received a medal of silver - then considered superior in quality to gold - with a bronze medal awarded to second place. Twelve years later, officials established the current system of giving gold, silver and bronze medals.
