by BOSTON (AP) — A gold medal awarded at the first Olympic Games on American soil has sold at auction for more than half a million dollars, part of hundreds of lots of Games memorabilia over the years. decades, a company announced Friday.
The 1904 St. Louis Olympics medal, which sold at auction for $545,371, is inscribed “Olympiad, 1904” and shows a victorious athlete holding a crown on the front. On the other side, Nike, the goddess of victory in ancient Greek mythology, is depicted alongside Zeus, the king of the gods of the pantheon, and the words designating the 110 meter hurdles attributed to her. The medal, awarded to American Fred Schule, includes the original ribbon and leather case.
These were the first Olympics where gold medals were awarded, and the Americans took advantage, winning 78 of the 96 events. Unlike today’s Olympic medals, which are mostly gold-plated silver, these were smaller and made entirely of gold.
Bobby Eaton, an Olympic specialist at Boston-based RR Auction, said it was unusual for a medal of this type to come up for auction, even though it came from the Schule family collection.
“No one really knows how many of the 1904 Olympic gold medals are still available,” Eaton said. “What we do know is that they are extremely rare. Of the hundred or so gold medals awarded in St. Louis, many have been lost to time or are stored away in private collections and museums.
Beyond the gold medals, the 1904 Games were also marked by many controversies and oddities.
The Games had initially been awarded to Chicago, but organizers of the St. Louis World’s Fair, fearing competition for participation, protested against holding a second international event simultaneously. Fair organizers have threatened to hold their own sporting events. It took the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, to forge peace by moving the Olympics 300 miles (483 kilometers) to the south.
As if this drama wasn’t enough, Fred Lorz appeared to have won the marathon until it was discovered that he was driving a car halfway.
Organizers held “Anthropology Days,” during which members of indigenous tribes from around the world attending the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the official name of the World’s Fair in St. Louis, were snatched from the fair and invited to compete without warning.
The Games also saw the debut of boxing and freestyle wrestling, sports that have stuck with the Summer Olympics to the present day, as well as the long-forgotten events of croquet and tug-of-war.
“These medals are not just about competition: they are a snapshot of the early days of the modern Olympic Games,” Eaton said. “To have one like this, in such exceptional condition, is truly remarkable and a unique opportunity for collectors. »
This sale is one of hundreds of Olympic items up for auction, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as gold medals from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, 1964 Tokyo Olympics, of Nagano in 1998 and of London in 2012. Olympic Games.
Olympic souvenirs have long sold at good prices.
In 2022, the silver medal won by Luz Long, the German long jumper who befriended Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was sold at auction for more than $488,000. A first-place silver medal awarded at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 sold for $180,111 when it went to auction in 2021 and a gold medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver sold for $68,750 in 2019.
Athletes have also auctioned off their medals for charity, including two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban of Ukraine, whose two gold medals and one bronze were auctioned off for $109,451 in 2022 to help to the war effort. Swimmer Ryan Lochte auctioned off his six Olympic silver and bronze medals that same year, with the $166,779 raised going to an organization benefiting children. He kept his gold medals.
The next Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028, marking the third time the city has hosted the Games. It also hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.
