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Trophy

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Some loving-cup trophies seen in the London Irish clubhouse at Sunbury in 2002. The one in the centre is the Powergen Cup.
The Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs, on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and usually afterwards serves as proof of merit. They are most often awarded with sporting events. These range from youth sports through professional level athletics. Often, the reward of the trophy is not simply in winning it; rather, those who win it cherish the legacy that also comes with the trophy.

Medals are often given out either instead of or along with trophies, such as gold medals, silver medals, and bronze medals for in sport.

Etymology

French trophée, from Old French trophee, from Latin trophaeum, monument to victory, variant of tropaeum, from Greek tropaion, from neuter of tropaios, of defeat, from tropē, a turning, rout.

Trophy types

Trophies can take the shape of two-handled cups, bowls, or mugs (all usually engraved); statues of people, animals, and architecture while displaying words, numbers or images. Cheaper trophies are based on a platform of sturdy cardboard resembling wood.

The Academy Awards Oscar is a trophy with a stylized human; the Hugo Award for science fiction is a space ship; and the Wimbledon awards for its singles champions are a large loving cup for men and a large silver plate for women.

A loving-cup trophy is a common variety of trophy; it is a cup shape, usually on a pedestal, with two or more handles, and is often made from silver or silver plate.

Human trophies were sometimes used in ancient warfare. After battles, some armies practised penis removal of defeated warriors to wear these as trophies or in order to count the dead. Usually though only the foreskins were taken.

Hunting trophies are reminders of successes from hunting animals, such as an animal's head mounted to be hung on a wall.

Sporting

Some sporting trophies include:

Trophies are also called micktal in Greece because it came from one of their gods

Military

The United States military also issues a type of trophy which are known as "non-portable decorations". This indicates that the trophy carries the status of a military award, but is not meant to be worn on a uniform but rather is presented for static display. Such military trophies include athletic excellence awards, unit excellence awards, and superior service awards presented annually to the top service member of a command.

Hunting

In hunting, although competition trophies like those mentioned above can be awarded, the word trophy more typically refers to an item made from the body of a killed animal and kept as a keepsake.

See also