At a recent auction, a first place medal from the first modern Olympic Games sold for more than $180,000.
The medal from the first modern Olympiad in 1896 in Athens, Greece, was sold to a private collector on the east coast, The Associated Press reported Friday. Prior to auctioning off the medal, a Boston-based RR Auction estimated the medal would sell for around $75,000, according to the AP.
“Any winner’s medal from the historic debut of the 1896 Olympic Games remains exceedingly rare,” Bobby Livingston, RR Auction’s executive vice president, said.https://t.co/xljfzaIbz2
— Bangor Daily News (@bangordailynews) July 23, 2021
The medal is made of silver because at the 1896 Olympic Games, first place got silver medals and second place got bronze medals, while third place received nothing. “Any winner’s medal from the historic debut of the 1896 Olympic Games remains exceedingly rare,” RR Auction executive vice president Bobby Livingston told the AP. In the first modern Olympic Games, there were only 250 athletes who participated, the auction company claimed, according to the outlet. (RELATED: The Dumbest Woke Olympian Stunts)
The auction lasted from July 15 to July 22. Other Olympic items were sold at the auction, including a gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics given to Argentina’s soccer team, which sold for $97,000. A gold medal given to the U.S. basketball team in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics sold for more than $83,000, and a gold medal given to Swedish wrestler Ivar Johansson for winning in the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics sold for more than $45,000 as well, according to the AP.
Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics began competing for their countries Friday in hopes of capturing an Olympic medal of their own.