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Owens Olympic gold medal sells for R15 million─── 09:18 Tue, 10 Dec 2013
Morgan Piek
Bloemfontein - An Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games has sold for a record R15 million at an auction.
SCP Auctions says an anonymous bidder paid $1,466,574, the highest price for a piece of Olympic memorabilia. The online auction ended Sunday.
Owens won gold in the 100- and 200-metres, 400 relay and long jump at the games attended by Adolf Hitler, who used the Olympics to showcase his ideas of Aryan supremacy.
According to the auction house based in Laguna Niguel, California, the medal is unidentifiable to a specific event.
It says Owens gave the medal to his friend, dancer and movie star Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, as thanks for helping Owens find work in entertainment after he returned from Berlin.
The Owens medal surpassed that of a silver cup won by the Greek athlete Spyridon Louis, who was the winner of the first modern-day Olympic marathon in 1896. The silver cup sold for R865 000 in April 2012.
The previous highest price paid for a US Olympic item was the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" ice-hockey jersey worn by team captain Mike Eruzione - which sold for R657 000 earlier this year.
The buyer of the medal wishes to remain anonymous, however reports indicate that the co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL ice hockey team, Ron Burkle was the successful bidder.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the medal will be donated to the Jesse Owens Foundation.
