Just in Time for Tokyo Games, Olympic Items Up for Auction

BOSTON - When the first modern Olympics were held in Athens in 1896, winners did not get gold medals as they will later this month when the Tokyo games get under way. Instead, they got silver, while runners-up got bronze. There were no medals for third place.

One of those exceedingly rare first-place silver medals is for sale in an Olympics-themed auction that opens Thursday. The nearly 200-lot sale hosted by Boston-based RR Auction also includes a gold medal won by the 1984 U.S. men's basketball team and several Olympic torches, including one used during last year's torch relay before it was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. "Interest is high now with the Tokyo Olympics approaching," RR Auction Executive Vice President Bobby Livingston said.