Historical artifacts coming out of Rio? I don’t think so.
The history of the Olympic Games is filled with memorabilia that found its way from museums and personal vaults to the auction block. As the torch is lit tonight in the opening ceremonies, it is hard to imagine anything that memorable coming out of these controversial games. If Michael Phelps wins five more gold medals, are they worth any more than his previous 22?
The torch that Muhammad Ali raised 20 years ago in the surprise and emotional opening ceremony in Atlanta is packed away at the Ali Center in Louisville while the building undergoes a renovation. Once reopened, it will proudly display the torch that Ali shook dramatically to light the Olympic cauldron as a nation and world cried. That is a priceless piece of memorabilia.
The most auctioned off equipment from any one Olympic team is easily the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid where the Americans stunned the world by beating Russia and going on to win the gold medal in men’s hockey. Last year, U.S. goalie Jim Craig offered 19 items for sale for $5.7 million. The lot didn’t sell, and Craig instead sold the mask he wore throughout the tournament for $137,000. The stick he used against the U.S.S.R. and in the gold-clinching game against Finland fetched $60,653. Craig’s game-used pads, blocker and skates went for just over $100,000.
Captain Mike Eruzione commanded even higher prices in a 2013 auction, selling the white jersey worn in U.S.S.R. game for $657,000, his blue jersey against Finland for 286 grand and the stick he used to score the winning goal against Russia for $263,000. That’s more than a million bucks for some 36-year-old hockey gear.
The only one of four gold medals won by Jesse Owens in front of Adolph Hitler in 1936 in Berlin was sold for $1.46 million. No one seems to know where the other three gold medals are. Michael Jordan’s shoes from the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona that won the gold by a 40-plus-points margin of victory were sold for $52,000. That seems like chump change for a vintage pair of Air Jordans.
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