South Korea Seoul
XXIV Summer International Olympic Games

It was the second time when the Olympics were celebrated in Asia. Seoul for the first time welcomed athletes of Aruba, Vanuatu, Eastern Samoa, Guam, Cook Islands, Maldives, Saint Vincent and Grenadines.
8397 athletes (according to other sources 8465 athletes) including 2194 female ones (according to other sources 2186 ones) of 159 nations representing all continents competed at these Summer Olympics. The USSR delegation included 484 athletes. The Soviet athletes competed in all sports.
Totally, 263 sets of medals had been played for in 27 sports in Seoul.
The Olympic Flame was lit at the Opening Ceremony by five athletes simultaneously – Sohn Mi-Chung, Chung Sun-Man, Sohn Mi-Chung, Lim Chun-Ae and Kim WonTak. The Athlete’s Oath was voiced by yachtsmen Hur Jae and Shon Mi-Na, and the Judge’s Oath – by judo judge Lee Hak-Rae.
The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were officially opened by South Korean President Roh Tae-Woo.
  
WINNER MEDALS
Organizers of the XXIV Olympic Games made a decision to maintain the obverse design traditional as it was in 1928. Meanwhile, the reverse again has been altered. It depicts a stylized dove flying leftward and holding laurel branches in its mouth, and the official logo of the Seoul Olympics in the upper right sector.
A silk ribbon of Olympic colors is attached to the medal itself with a ring.
The reverse design was made by Oh Dong Hwan and Park Chang Shik.
OBVERSE: a figure of the Greek Goddess of Victory, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand, hand raised, and a palm leaf in her left hand. On the left of the goddess, there is a Panathenaean amphora standing on a shelf rock, with depicted competing athletes. A view of an amphitheatre looking like the Roman Coliseum appears on the right of the goddess. A horizontal four-line inscription in English reading “XXIV – Olympiad – Seoul – 1988” is engraved in the right upper segment.
REVERSE: a stylized dove flying leftward and holding laurel branches in its mouth, the symbol of peace, and the official logo of the XXIV Olympic Games in the upper right sector.

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL
OBCERSE: a view of famous South Gate, with two cranes flying over, and the mountain range in the background.
REVERSE: the official emblem of the Seoul Olympics, and two-line inscription in English “XXIV Olympiad – Seoul 1988” underneath.

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL FOR JOURNALISTS
The obverse depicts a legendary Korean rider racing over the Olympic rings, with the inscription in English ”XXIV Olympiad Seoul 1988”. The reverse shows the Olympic emblem, signatures of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and President of Seoul Olympics Organizing Committee, with the outline of the Olympic stadium and dates “1988.9.17 – 10.2” underneath.

GOLD WINNER MEDAL (FIRST PRIZE) 

Metal	silver-gilt
Diameter	61,3 mm
Thickness	5,1 mm
Weight	146 g
Designer	Giuseppe Cassioli/ Oh Dong Hwan and Park Chang Shik
Mint	Korea Security Printing and Minting (Seoul, Korea)

SILVER WINNER MEDAL (SECOND PRIZE)

Metal	silver
Diameter	61,3 mm
Thickness	5,1 mm
Weight	140 g
Designer	Giuseppe Cassioli/ Oh Dong Hwan and Park Chang Shik
Mint	Korea Security Printing and Minting (Seoul, Korea)

BRONZE WINNER MEDAL (THIRD PRIZE)

Metal	bronze
Diameter	61,3 mm
Thickness	5,1 mm
Weight	129 g
Designer	Giuseppe Cassioli/ Oh Dong Hwan and Park Chang Shik
Mint	Korea Security Printing and Minting (Seoul, Korea)

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL

Metal	bronze
Diameter	60 mm
Thickness	6 mm
Weight	116 g
Designer	Kim Kwang-hyun
Mint	Korea Security Printing and Minting (Seoul, Korea)

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL FOR JOURNALISTS

Metal	bronze
Hight	65 mm
Width	65 mm
Thickness	6 mm
Weight	167 g
Designer	Kim Kwang-hyun
Mint	Korea Security Printing and Minting (Seoul, Korea)