Seven runners are competing in a race where 3 of them They will win medals for coming in first, second and third place. How many unique ways are there to order 3 of the 7 runners first? second and third place?

Answer 1

There are 7 choices for the first place finisher, then only 6 runners remaining for the second place finisher, and finally 5 runners remaining for the third place finisher. Therefore, there are $7 \times 6 \times 5 = \boxed{210}$ unique ways to order 3 of the 7 runners in first, second, and third place.