Memorabilia and other personal items belonging to former Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner will go to auction in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The list of items includes autographed jerseys from other sporting heroes like Karl Malone and John Elway. Also up for auction are some of the medals Gardner won while competing in Greco-Roman wrestling. However, according to David Olson of Erkelens and Olsen auctioneers, Gardner’s 2000 Olympic gold medal will not be up for sale.
“No, no, none of his Olympic gold medals,” Olsen said. “Mainly his sports memorabilia and… there are some wrestling materials. We do have his 2000 Olympic gold medal ring.”
Gardner shocked the sports world at the Sydney Olympics by defeating Russian star Alexander Karelin. Karelin had never lost an international wrestling match prior to the contest. Gardner had gone through his college career at the University of Nebraska without even winning a national title, let alone a world medal. The surprising victory was later referred to in the media as the “Miracle on the Mat.”
While the items up for sale could fetch quite a lot of money among sports collectors and enthusiasts, the true value of the sale will only be known after the auction concludes, Olson said.
“I don’t know… the beauty of an auction is you get a crowd together and the crowd determines what its value is worth. But, as far as value, I’m not sure,” he said.
Saturday’s auction will take place at the Erkelens and Olson auction house at 10:00 a.m.
