Give these guys a medal: Olympic fourth place finishes

And the pewter prize goes to…

Lifestyle

Shin A-Lam of Korea gets escorted off stage after a faulty clock ended her match against Britta Heidemann of Germany in the Women’s Epee Individual Fencing Semifinals on Day 3 of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Ezra Shaw

The Olympics are hard. Really, really hard. And they've only gotten more difficult.

In the 60s, only 80 countries competed, but 204 countries are vying for gold in 2012.  David Mitchell — a bookstore owner in Derbyshire, England — has decided to take matters into his own hands. Mitchell is creating fourth place medals made out of pewter to recognize the increased difficulty.  

He might not be able to send one to every fourth place athlete, though, so GlobalPost is helping out. We've compiled a list of eight athletes who might have gotten fourth, but still deserve a medal.