Tommie Smith puts 1968 gold medal up for auction
By Elliott Almond
San Jose Mercury News
Posted: 10/12/2010 07:24:33 PM PDT
Updated: 10/13/2010 02:26:04 PM PDT
Tommie Smith is going for gold again.
Forty-two years after his black-gloved salute on the victory stand became one of the most indelible images of the Mexico City Olympics, the former San Jose State runner wants to sell his 200-meters gold medal.
Smith, 66, has put his medal and cherry-red Puma running shoes up for auction at New York-based M.I.T. Memorabilia with a starting bid of $250,000. The sale at www.momentsintime.com is scheduled to close Nov. 4.
“Part of the reason is for money, but also he feels it is time to share it with the sports-collecting memorabilia public,” M.I.T.'s Gary Zimet said. Smith declined to comment Tuesday on the anniversary of his Olympic victory. His wife, Delois Jordan-Smith, referred all questions to Zimet, saying Smith “won’t be giving any statements on that.”
Zimet said the man who helped turn San Jose into Speed City in the 1960s made it clear he doesn’t want to be involved in the sale.
“He feels that what he did ruined his life in many ways, and he simply doesn’t want to put himself in the media spotlight,” Zimet said.
Smith and fellow San Jose State sprinter John Carlos, who won the bronze medal, were banned from the Olympics after their iconic gesture that shocked the sports world. The controversy softened over time, and the medal-ceremony protest for human rights eventually earned them international acclaim. In 2005, San Jose State unveiled a statue immortalizing their
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salute.
But Smith, who lives in Georgia, has remained bitter over his post-Olympic treatment in San Jose, describing it as racist in a 2007 autobiography, “Silent Gesture.”
He didn’t include the famous glove in the auction because Smith doesn’t know where it is.
“With all the moves he’s done, he just lost it,” said Zimet, who wants to contact Carlos to try to also sell his Olympic wares.
The idea to sell the memorabilia began a year ago when Zimet happened upon Smith’s website. He met with the Olympian last month, and they soon agreed to sell the items.
“Of course the medal is important to him, but the memory of winning the race is far more important,” Zimet said of Smith’s then-world-record time of 19.83 seconds. “He is doing it for the money, but not because he is desperate. If someone is willing to pay his price, he’ll sell.”
Zimet set the starting price from experience, but some sports-memorabilia experts questioned the value Tuesday.
“Mexico City Olympic gold medals sell between $5,000-$8,000,” said Richard Murray, owner of Gold Medal Collectibles in Ontario. “Tommie Smith could tack another $1,000 or $2,000 on it.”
Murray said the running shoes will be more difficult to move, because individual collectors don’t buy uniforms or equipment. He added that some athletes have an inflated idea of what they can get.
“They think they’re worth pure gold, but they’re not,” he said.
Murray had a sweater belonging to skater Tonya Harding that didn’t even receive a bid.
Jason Gruwell, owner of Sports Gallery in Palo Alto, said Olympic memorabilia generally don’t do well.
“There’s a small window of opportunity when it is going, then people forget about it and go back to their regular sports,” he said.
Longtime Olympic memorabilia collector Craig Perlow agreed.
“We don’t have the culture of Olympic sports like professional sports,” he said, recalling a time when long-jump champion Bob Beamon wanted to sell his 1968 items for $300,000.
Smith’s decision to sell comes two weeks after a gold medal once belonging to Mark Wells of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey team went up for auction. The handler of the hockey medal told the Boston Herald he expected to get up to $125,000 for it.
The Mercury News’ Sandra Gonzalez contributed to this report.