JOHANNESBURG (AP) It is "difficult" for IOC President Thomas Bach to accept that a gold medal won by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics will go on auction and possibly be bought by a private collector.
The medal, one of four golds that Owens won at the Berlin
Games in front of Adolf Hitler, is "a part of world heritage," Bach said Wednesday.
"(It has) an importance far beyond the sporting achievements of Jesse Owens, which is part of world history," the IOC president said in an interview with The Associated Press at an anti-doping conference in South Africa. "To put this up for an auction is for me a very difficult decision (to accept)."
The International Olympic Committee will not intervene in the sale. SCP Auctions says the medal could go for more than $1 million when the auction opens later this month.
"Whether this medal is purchased by a private individual or an institution, SCP Auctions and our consignor share in the feeling that the ideal place for Jesse Owens' gold medal is on display in a museum where it can be shared with the public and perpetuate Owens' inspiring legacy," said Dan Imler, vice president of SCP Auctions in Laguna Niguel, California.
