An anonymous bidder has paid $1,466,574 for the Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936, this is the highest amount ever paid Olympic memorabilia.
The price easily broke the previous record of $$867,266 (£541,250/€661,171) paid at an auction in London in April 2012 for a silver cup won by Spyros Louis, the Greek who won the first Olympic marathon at Athens 1896.
Bidding for Owens’ item finished today after it was extended by a few hours and there were a total of 30 bids.
The winning bid as nearly five times the highest price previously paid for a gold medal won by a member of the U.S Olympic team Mark Wells’ gold from the Lake Placid 1980″MIracle on Ice” hockey team, which sold for $310,700 (£190,127/€226,696) in 2010.
Owens’ gold medal had been put up for auction by the estate of Elaine Plaines-Robinson, wife of entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, a close friend of Owens who died in 1949.
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