Only a handful of athletes have won this rare Olympic medal — here are their stories

Gold, silver, and bronze aren't the only medals an athlete can win at the Olympics. 

A fourth medal — known at the Pierre de Coubertin medal— is awarded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to recognize those who demonstrate sportsmanship and Olympic spirit. It's named for Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the IOC.

And since the medal's introduction in 1964, it's been awarded a total of 17 times — sometimes to politicians and Olympic organizers, but mostly to athletes. The IOC has given the medal to athletes (either individuals or teams) 12 times in total. 

These are the inspirational stories of all the athletes who've earned this rare honor.

1964: Luz Long

Luz Long, a German track and field athlete, competed in the 1936 Berlin games. He became famous for giving long-jumping advice to black American athlete Jesse Owens, even though Adolf Hitler was watching from the stands. The advice helped Owens win a gold medal.

"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler," Owens later said, according to the BBC. "You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24 carat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment."

Long was awarded the first Pierre de Coubertin medal posthumously, in 1964.

1964: Eugenio Monti

Just before a race at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti found out that his British rivals were missing a crucial bolt on their bobsled. He offered them a bolt from his own sled, and the Brits went on to take gold, according to the IOC. 

Monti won bronze — and the Pierre de Coubertin medal, too. 

1988: Lawrence Lemieux

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/MS6DcLP7WDc
Width: 800px
Height: 450px

At the Seoul summer games in 1988, Canadian sailor Lawrence Lemieux was racing through heavy winds and 10-foot waves when he noticed that fellow sailors from Singapore had capsized and were quickly being swept away.

Lemieux abandoned his second-place standing to save the sailors, and waited for a rescue boat to arrive before completing the race, the LA Times reported.