Olympic Sprinter Tommie Smith's Gold Medal Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Oct 15th 2010 at 8:02PM

Olympic sprinter Tommie Smith's decision to auction off his 1968 Olympic gold medal for the 200 meter dash has caused quite a stir. Smith is no stranger to controversy, when he received the metal in Mexico City he raised his fist in protest while on the victory stand. Smith later wrote a book "Silent Gesture" about that moment and his experiences afterward. Smith's co-author on that book, David Steele, mentioned on our sibling blog FanHouse that Smith put the medal up for auction once before, in 1999.

This time it's for sale through Moments in Time Memorabilia along with his Puma spikes and a signed and notarized letter from Smith. The opening bid is $250,000. SF Weekly reports that so far there hasn't been a bid on the lot. The auction will end November 4. Gary Zimet, a representative of Moments in Time Memorabilia has said that Smith needs the money but "is not desperate."

Tags: gold medal, olympic gold medal, sports memorabilia, tommie smith