An Olympic gold medal that was earned after the immortal "Miracle on Ice" hockey game which saw Team USA upset the heavily-favored Soviet squad will be auctioned starting next week.
Star Tribune is reporting that Mark Pavelich, who was part of the all-amateur team that defeated the highly fancied Soviets in 1980, is selling his gold medal with the online bidding starting on April 25. The Miracle on Ice is widely considered as the greatest upset in the history of team sports.
This marks the second time that an Olympic gold medal from the 1980 US Hockey team will be sold, after Mark Wells sold it to a private buyer in 2010.
Pavelich's medal will be auctioned at a starting bid price of $62,500 although according to auction company Heritage Auctions, the medal's value could go as high as $250,000.
However, Heritage said that Pavelich is not in any financial problem that prompted him to sell the gold medal. According to its sports director Chris Ivy per Star Tribune: "He's doing fine. It's something that he wants to help his kids out with education, the trust and that kind of thing."
During the game, Pavelich had two assists including one that led to the game-winning goal of Mike Eruzione. Pressed for comments, Eruizone said about Pavelich's decision to auction the medal: "You hate to see it, but we are all grown men. Good luck to him, and I hope it means a lot of money."
While two of his teammates have sold their medals, Eruzione said: "I will never sell my medal as long as I'm alive."
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