Taking the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics as an example, at the post-game awards session, the winners stand on the podium after the games and are usually given cute plush toy mascots, but no sign of medals. In fact, such a special way of awarding prizes is based on the uniqueness of the Winter Olympics and set up separately.
Originally, due to the colder weather during the Winter Olympics, in order to player's body considerations and other factors, at the end of the game, the competition venue, will only award prizes to the winners, and later in the specific awards area for the winners and then award medals.
This tradition has continued since the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. At each subsequent Winter Olympics, the medal presentations have been scheduled to take place in the awards plaza. Since the Winter Olympics has many fewer categories of competition compared with the Summer Olympics, the ceremony is usually held uniformly at the end of the day's competition to award medals to all the day's winners.
In addition to the ceremonies, there will also be celebratory performances at the Awards Plaza:
In fact, the medal ceremonies at the Awards Plaza will provide an opportunity for more people to witness the moment of honor than in the competition venues.
According to the official sports display and award ceremony service sponsor of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the North Olympic Group previously revealed that a stage will be set up and seats will be placed at the award plaza in the center of the Olympic Park, which is the award plaza of the Beijing competition, to allow spectators*** to witness the award ceremony together.
Zhangjiakou district awards plaza set in the Prince City Ice and Snow Town. Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou will produce 51 gold medals, the square will run for 14 days, held 49 items of the awards ceremony; Winter Paralympic Games, Zhangjiakou will produce 46 gold medals, the square will run for seven days, held 44 items of the awards ceremony.
Above reference CNN - What's so special about the awards ceremony at the Winter Olympics?