“You almost don’t believe it. For a few seconds I didn’t even fully understand what had just happened. It kind of clicked once we had the [Netherlands] flags around us celebrating. I can’t even describe the feeling. I’m an Olympic gold medalist. I was without words, I was just so happy,” these were the words of the Netherlands front leg runner in the mixed 4×400 meters relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The man donned the colors of his country and delivered a good first leg in the race, passing on the baton to Lieke Klaver. Thanks to Femke Bol, the team came home with gold. But seems like this athlete is not keeping it…

“2024 Paris Summer Olympics Gold Medal Presented to Netherlands 4x400M Mixed Relay Team Member,” read the website of the World’s Largest Collectibles Auctioneer – Heritage Auctions. Featuring in the images is indeed the gold medal features a hexagonal piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower at its center, symbolizing French heritage. On the flip side is Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, in front of the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, along with the Acropolis.

The description of the medal read, “Presented is the gold medal presented to Eugene Omala, who ran the opening leg for the world-beating Dutch team and is the current African indoor record-holder for the Men’s 400m.” Eugene Omalla set the African indoor 400m record with a time of 45.18 seconds on February 23, 2024, at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas. This record was surpassed in February 2025 by Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel, who ran an impressive 44.92 seconds indoors. But the important thing here is that the man who would have once held this medal as his most prized possession is selling it.

An Olympian selling his gold is one of the rarest cases to exist; it has only been when there is a social good good enough or there are personal issues that an Olympian puts his price at sale. Olympians like Wladimir Klitschko and Otylia Jędrzejczak have auctioned their gold medals to support charitable causes or cover personal expenses. So what compelled the Oamalla? Track and field alone does not guarantee you money, it is a known fact now. We don’t know the exact reason, but financial hardships may be.

The medal is estimated to be of $80,000 – up, while the current bid for the medal stands at $22,ooo. The auction is open for 8 days, and once it is sold, it will be another one of those Paris Olympics memorabilia items that have been auctioned.

All the Paris Memorabilia that has been auctioned

Five torches were used in the relay along a path across French territory that eventually led up to the famous cauldron situated near the Louvre. One of them was carried by football legend Zinedine Zidane himself. The five of them combined were sold for between 13,000 – 22,000 dollars apiece. Remember Marie Antoinette? The performer who appeared with her head chopped off during the imaginative opening ceremony when the French heavy metal band, Gojira, was playing. The red dress she wore was sold for $936.29.

Philippe Katerine is a hard name to forget. A near-naked performance as a blue Bacchus alongside drag queens created an online storm as Christian groups took offence. The singer had used garlands as headwear which had been bought by a French sports museum in the city of Nice. Another performer donned a costume that resembled the “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” character and ran across Paris rooftops with a torch in hand during the opening ceremony. This was also bought by this museum along with 20 other lots.

The Phryge Olympic mascot – the gift that was given to gold medallists was bought by an online collector who paid $3601.12 for it. He also picked up the Paralympics version of the soft toy, which had a prosthetic leg, for 1584.49 dollars..