One of the “Miracle on Ice” gold medals will soon be up for auction.
Mark Pavelich, who helped lead Team USA to Olympic ice hockey gold over the Soviet Union in 1980, is selling his medal through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Bidding will start at $62,500, but it will likely fetch much more.
This is actually the second “Miracle on Ice” medal to be auctioned off. Mark Wells sold his to a private buyer for $40,000 in 2010, who then was able to sell it for $310,700. Wells suffers from a rare genetic spinal cord disease and needed the money to pay for his medical treatment.
Pavelich on the other hand is not in any financial trouble.
“He’s doing fine,” said Chris Ivy, director of Heritage sports. “It’s something that he wants to help his kids out with education, the trust and that kind of thing.”
Fellow team member and Winthrop, Mass., native Mike Eruzione supports Pavelich’s decision.
“He won it, he knows it, and he doesn’t need the medal to prove that,” Eruzione said. “You hate to see it, but we are all grown men. Good luck to him, and I hope it means a lot of money.”
Eruzione told the Star Tribune that he expects to see more of his teammates auction their medals, but his is not for sale.
“I will never sell my medal as long as I’m alive,” Eruzione said.
Bids on Pavelich’s medal will be taken online and by email through starting on April 25 and will go live and end on May 16.
Photo via Twitter/@YahooSports
