The Olympic medal is known to be the ultimate goal of athletes during the Olympic Games, but beyond its great symbolic value, how much is it worth?

According to CNN, the diameter of the gold, silver and bronze medals is 85 mm, ranging from 7.7 mm to 12.1 mm.

The most expensive of the three, gold, is actually made of pure silver painted in gold, with about 6 grams of gold of a total weight of 556 grams.

The silver medal is made of pure silver and weighs about 550 grams, while the bronze medal weighs about 450 grams and is in fact made of 95 per cent copper and 5 per cent zinc.

This means that the gold medal at today's prices is worth about $800, while the silver medal is worth $450, and the bronze is about $5.

It is reported that earlier this month, a historic silver medal, from the 1896 Athens Olympics, was sold for $180,000 at an auction in Boston.

Cuban rower Loris Bobo's gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics earned $73,000 and $200, and Ivan Pedroso's gold medal in the long bounce of the 2000 Sydney Olympics for $71,000 and $335.