- More
1967-75 Olga Korbut Medals Lot of 16 from The Olga Korbut Collection....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.Description
1967-75 Olga Korbut Medals Lot of 16 from The Olga Korbut Collection. Olga Korbut received numerous awards for her ability to shine in gymnastics events. Each of these medals were bestowed for her great work. Included are: Silver Medal Uneven Bars, Moscow, USSR, Sponsored by the Army of the USSR, 1970; Silver Medal, Team Championship, Moscow, USSR, Sponsored by the Army of the USSR, 1970; Silver Medal, Balance Beam, Moscow, USSR, National Competition, 1972; Silver Medal, Individual Championship, Rostov-on-Don, USSR, Palace of Sports, 1974; Silver Medal, Team Championship, XIX USSR Cup Combined Events, Vilnius Palace of Sports, 1974; Silver Medal, Uneven Bars, XVII USSR Cup, Moscow, 1972; 1970 Silver Medal for performances in Japan at the Russia and Japan Friendship Competition, event unknown; Silver Medal, Balance Beam, XVII USSR Cup, Moscow, 1972; Silver Medal, Beam, XLI USSR Championship, Leningrad, 1975; Gold Medal, Belarus Jr. Competition, event unknown, year unknown but 1967 or 1968; Gold Medal, Belarus Jr. Competition, event unknown, year unknown but 1967 or 1968; Silver Medal, Belarus Jr. Competition, event unknown and others. Moderate wear averaged throughout. Letter of provenance from Olga Korbut.The Olga Korbut Collection.
At just four feet eleven inches in height, and tipping the scales at just over eighty pounds, one might have expected Olga Korbut to be simply swept away in the maelstrom of politics and expectations that swirled around the 1972 Munich Games. The Cold War had never fully thawed at any international summit of the world's greatest athletes, and this 1972 edition was devastated by the horrors of the terrorist attack upon the Israeli team at the Olympic Village. But it was at these Games, under those most challenging conditions, that Korbut supplied a gymnastics performance of pure mastery and joy, beginning a global love affair with "The Sparrow from Minsk," who single-handedly upended the stereotype of the Soviet athlete as a stone-faced automaton.
The world welcomed her back to the sport's brightest spotlight four years later in Montreal, where she was identified as the best hope to throw a leash around the rising star of Romanian wunderkind Nadia Comaneci, but injury limited the full breadth of Korbut's brilliance, restricting her medal haul to a team Gold and personal Silver.
This auction will present the tangible evidence of Korbut's elite achievement-three Gold and two Silver medals earned at the Olympic Games of Munich and Montreal--as well as dozens of other relics of her age of dominance (her fourth Gold Medal--1972 Balance Beam--was stolen from a Moscow museum). But her greatest legacy cannot be measured by the inanimate. After the 1972 Games, Korbut was invited to visit Richard Nixon at the White House, and she later reported that, "He told me that my performance in Munich did more for reducing the political tension during the Cold War between our two countries than the embassies were able to do in five years."
Today, at age sixty-one, Korbut parts with the mementos of her youthful glory because the thing she values most is always with her. There is hardly a gymnast alive who doesn't credit this tiny force of nature for the explosion of the sport's popularity on a global level, for establishing gymnastics as the most anticipated competition of the Summer Games. Heritage Auctions is privileged and proud for the opportunity in bringing this historic collection to the collecting world, each lot joined by a signed letter of provenance from Ms. Korbut herself.
Auction Info
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid (minimum $14) per lot.
Calculate Standard Domestic Shipping Sales Tax information
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Floor auctions
Open for bidding: (View All)Historical
Ends on 03/01/2021
Sports Collectibles
Ends on 03/01/2021
Fine Art
Ends on 03/03/2021
Fine Art
Ends on 03/04/2021
Jewelry & Timepieces
Ends on 03/05/2021
US Coins
Ends on 03/08/2021
Photography
Ends on 03/10/2021
Fine Art
Ends on 03/11/2021
Decorative Art
Ends on 03/11/2021
Fine & Rare Wine
Ends on 03/12/2021
Western & Texas Art
Ends on 03/12/2021
Comics & Comic Art
Ends on 03/13/2021
US Coins
Ends on 03/15/2021
Decorative Art
Ends on 03/16/2021
US Coins
Ends on 03/17/2021
Fine Art
Ends on 03/17/2021
Nature & Science
Ends on 03/19/2021
World & Ancient Coins
Ends on 03/21/2021
US Coins
Ends on 03/22/2021
World & Ancient Coins
Ends on 03/25/2021
Comics & Comic Art
Ends on 03/25/2021
Sports Collectibles
Opens about 03/04/2021
Luxury Real Estate
Opens about 01/22/2021
Fine Art
Opens about 03/03/2021
Jewelry & Timepieces
Opens about 03/08/2021
Movie Posters
Opens about 03/05/2021
Comics & Comic Art
Opens about 03/12/2021
World & Ancient Coins
Opens about 03/07/2021
Currency
Opens about 03/08/2021
Fine Art
Opens about 03/17/2021
Comics & Comic Art
Opens about 03/19/2021
Decorative Art
Opens about 03/18/2021
US Coins
Opens about 03/08/2021
Jewelry & Timepieces
Opens about 02/24/2021
Photography
Opens about 03/19/2021
Musical Instruments
Opens about 03/23/2021
Fine Art
Opens about 03/23/2021
Photography
Opens about 03/24/2021
Currency
Opens about 03/26/2021
US Coins
Opens about 03/16/2021
Decorative Art
Opens about 03/26/2021
Historical
Opens about 03/29/2021
World & Ancient Coins
Opens about 03/21/2021
US Coins
Opens about 04/02/2021
Currency
Opens about 04/02/2021
Fine Art
Opens about 03/31/2021
Fine Art
Opens about 04/01/2021
US Coins
Opens about 03/22/2021
World & Ancient Coins
Opens about 03/28/2021
Decorative Art
Opens about 04/06/2021
Decorative Art
Opens about 04/08/2021
Decorative Art
Opens about 04/09/2021
Heritage membership
- Past Auction Values (prices, photos, full descriptions, etc.)
- Bid online
- Free Collector newsletter
- Want List with instant e-mail notifications
- Reduced auction commissions when you resell your
winnings
- Cash Advances
- More Bidders
- Trusted Experts
- Over 200,000 Satisfied Consignors Since 1976
Learn about consigning with us
I am completely satisfied, more to the point, absolutely ecstatic, about not only the proceeds but the wonderful professional manner every aspect of my little consignment was handled.View More Testimonials