Reuters: Lifestyle: Marathon cup from 1896 sets Olympics auction record

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Marathon cup from 1896 sets Olympics auction record Apr 18th 2012, 14:51 By Mike Collett-White LONDON | Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:51am EDT LONDON (Reuters) - The silver cup given to the winner of the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1896 sold for 541,250 pounds ($860,000) in London on Wednesday, breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia. Breal's Silver Cup stands just six inches tall and was offered for sale at Christie's auction house by the grandson of the victor, Greek athlete Spyros Louis. Bearing the same name as his grandfather, Louis said the final price paid by an anonymous telephone bidder was beyond what he could have imagined. "Deep down I hope that the cup remains in Greece, but no matter where it ends up, it will forever represent the glory of my country, and I have no doubt that the new owner will treasure it as we have done," he said in a statement. According to Christie's, there were six bidders for the item, which smashed the previous auction record for an Olympic artifact. That was set in April 2011, when an Olympic torch from the 1952 Olympic Games held in Helsinki was sold at auction in Paris for the equivalent of $400,000. "It is hard to believe that such a small trophy represents so much in sporting and Olympic history," said Nicolette Tomkinson and Sophie Churcher, both of Christie's, in a joint statement. The item was sold on the day Britain marked the 100 days' countdown to the 2012 London Olympics. The cup was named after Michel Breal, the French philologist who invented the men's marathon race as part of the 1896 games. Inspired by the legend of the messenger Pheidippides, he had the idea to stage a race from the city of Marathon to Athens -- a distance of 25 miles, and promised a silver cup to the winner. According to the auctioneer, of the 17 athletes who began the race, only 10 finished, one of whom was later disqualified for travelling by carriage for part of the race. Louis, a previously unrecognized water carrier who allegedly sipped cognac on his way around the track and became a national hero for his victory, finished in just under three hours -- eight minutes ahead of second place. (Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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