Track and Field Medals and Trophies for Meets

Short answer

A track and field meet places every running, jumping and throwing event, for each gender and age group, and relays add a medal for every runner on the placing teams. Medals carry most of that; trophies go to team champions and high-point athletes. We make custom acrylic medals cut to the shape of your meet or team logo and printed in full color, and design the team and season trophies in the same artwork. No order is too small, and the medal design is proofed and approved by you before we make it.

Shaped, layered acrylic finisher medal for a 17K river run, with the distance in raised yellow lettering, on a blue neck ribbon

A meet medal, not a race medal

A road race gives a finisher medal to everyone. A track meet gives place medals only, event by event. That makes the order more like a set of brackets than a finisher run, and it is why this page is separate from race medals.

Our medallion awards are cut to any shape and printed in full color. A medal cut as a runner, a hurdle or your team crest, with a colorway for each place, gives the whole meet one look from the sprints to the throws.

Team champion and high-point awards suit a trophy in the same design; see custom awards.

Track and field awards by type

Event place medals

Sprints, hurdles, middle and long distance, jumps and throws. Top three, or deeper at larger meets.

Relay medals

One medal for each runner on a placing relay team, usually four. Add alternates if your meet awards them.

Team champions

Team scores by gender or combined. A trophy for the winner and the runner-up.

High-point athlete

For the athlete with the most individual points across the meet, often one per gender and age group.

Records boards

Meet or school records by event, on a board with name plates that can be replaced when a record falls.

Season banquet

Athlete of the year, most improved, personal-best awards and the coach’s award.

Counting medals for a track meet

Start from the event list. Running events are often run in heats; when the meet is scored as timed finals, places come from times across all the heats, so medals are awarded once per event, not per heat. When the meet runs preliminaries and a final, only the final is medaled. Either way, the count is events times genders times age groups times places, plus relays.

How a track and field medal count builds
Decision	Typical choice	Effect on the count
Events	Running, hurdles, jumps, throws, relays	One set of places per event
Genders and age groups	Girls and boys, often by age band at youth meets	Each repeats the event list
Places medaled	Top three, or top six to eight	The multiplier on everything
Relays	Two or more relays per group	Four medals per placing team
Heats	Timed finals or prelims and a final	Medals once per event, never per heat

Leave the event off the medal. A medal with the meet, the place and the year fits the 100 and the shot put alike, so a long meet never runs out of one event’s medals while another has spares.

Youth meets, school meets and the season

Youth track programs often run age-group meets where younger athletes earn a ribbon or medal just for competing, with places on top. Participation awards covers how to keep both kinds clear. School and club teams usually close the season with a banquet where awards carry names: athlete of the year for sprints, distance, jumps and throws, most improved, and a coach’s award. Sports award categories has more names, and MVP trophies covers the top award.

Lakeside Track Club
Field Events Athlete of the Year
2026 Season

Records and returning awards

A records board is the award track teams keep longest. List each event, the mark, the athlete and the year, and plan for changes: a board with replaceable plates means a new record is a new plate, not a new board. A meet that runs every year can reorder the same medal design with the year changed, so an athlete’s medals across several seasons match.

What to send us

The meet or team name and logo.
The event list, genders and age groups, and the places you medal.
Relay events, so we count a medal per runner on each placing team.
Team, high-point and banquet trophies, with names where known.
The date the awards must be in hand.

Approve the proof and production starts; until then, nothing is made. Count back from the first race of the meet and check the current lead time with us against that date; see how far in advance to order. Swim and gymnastics meets are in the Recognition Library.

Track & Field Medals FAQs

How many medals does a track meet need?

Multiply events by genders by age groups by the places you medal, then add four medals for each placing relay team, plus alternates if you award them.

Are medals given per heat or per event?

Per event. In timed finals, places come from times across all heats; with preliminaries, only the final is medaled.

Should the event be printed on track medals?

Usually not. A medal with the meet, the place and the year fits every event, which keeps the order simple and avoids shortages.

What is the difference between track medals and race medals?

Race medals for road races usually include a finisher medal for everyone. Track meets give place medals by event, plus team and high-point trophies.

Can you make a school or meet records board?

Yes. We design boards with name plates that can be replaced when a record falls, in the team or meet artwork.

Can track medals be cut to our logo?

Yes. The acrylic is cut to your crest or meet mark and printed in full color, with a neck ribbon.

Racer in a helmet raising both arms as gold confetti falls under stage lights

EVENT LIST FINAL?

Send the event list and the logo

Tell us the events, groups and places, and the relays you run. We put the place medals, relay sets and team trophies into one design and send a proof.

Season banquet only? Send the award names and the athletes’ names.

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Track & Field Medals