earlier in July, Ryan Lochte announced that he would be auctioning off six of his twelve Olympic medals, with the proceeds going to the Jorge Nations Foundation. The Jorge Nation Foundation raises funds to send seriously ill children on their dream vacations.
The medals alone brought in a gross total of over $166,000, of which an unspecified percentage will be donated. Combined with the proceeds from Lochte’s additional items (the ring and watch), the items fetched a grand total of over $195,000.
Lochte’s Breitling watch, which was also estimated at $10,000, ended up fetching $16.143. The 14K White Gold Olympic ring, which Lochte purchased following the 2012 Olympics, was estimated at over $8,000, and sold for $12,914.
The six medals were broken up into three auction items. The available packages were Locthe’s 2004 Athens Olympic silver medal, his two bronze medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and two silver and one bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics.
The pair of bronze medals from Beijing incurred a very high number of bids, ultimately selling for a whopping $89,423 including the buyer’s premium. This was approximately $77,423 above their estimated value, which was originally calculated at $12,000.
One of the medals was from the 200 IM, in which Lochte finished with a 1:56.53 behind Laszlo Cseh and Michael Phelps. The other medal was won in the 400 IM, in which Locthe placed behind Cseh and Phelps again.
The set of two silver and one bronze medals from London sold for $56,348, coming in just under the package’s estimated value of $60,000. The auction house’s estimated value was much higher than these levels of vintage silver and bronze medals would typically resell for, but the bids did get very close to their calculations.
The medals were earned in the 200 IM (second to Phelps with a 1:54.90), the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay (team of Nathan Adrian, Phelps, Cullen Jones and Lochte), and the 200 backstroke (third with a 1: 53.94 behind Ryosuke Irie and Tyler Clary).
The 2004 Athens silver medal is from the 200 IM, where he swam a time of 1:58.75 and finished behind Phelps. It sold for over double its estimated value, earning a total of $21.008. It had originally been valued at $10,000.
Bobby Eaton, the chief operation officer for PR Auction where the items were sold, said that each of Lochte’s lots went to a different collector.