1892 Documents That Launched Modern Olympic Games Sell for Record $8.8M at Auction

Historic documents that outlined a plan to revive the ancient Olympic competitions of Greece were sold for millions at auction this week — massively surpassing all expectations and setting a record bid for sports memorabilia.

“It is clear that the telegraph, railways, the telephone, the passionate research in science, congresses and exhibitions have done more for peace than any treaty or diplomatic convention,” Coubertin wrote in the manifesto. “Well, I hope that athletics will do even more. Those who have seen 30,000 people running through the rain to attend a football match will not think that I am exaggerating.”

RELATE VIDEO: Adam Rippon Talks on Missing the Olympics Two Times Before Becoming an Olympic Medalist in 2018

Coubertin argued that through global athletic competition, peace could be found between nations.

The $8.8 million auction price is the highest ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia, surpassing the $5.4 million bid for a Babe Ruth New York Yankees jerseysold earlier this year.

The sale comes ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

source: people.com