Heritage Auctions is offering the Olympic torch carried by Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner at the 1984 summer games in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The sale, titled Platinum Night Sports Auction, will be held on July 30 in Chicago. Heritage says the torch, which measures 24 inches and features a brass finish and leather handle, could fetch upwards of $20,000.
Los Angeles-based philanthropist Bob Lorsch has consigned the torch. Lorsch, an entrepreneur who orchestrated the Tahoe part of the Olympic torch relay, was responsible for Jenner’s participation.
Heritage specialist Chris Ivy told the New York Post‘s Page Six columnist: “This torch serves as a wonderful symbol that masculinity and femininity are not mutually exclusive. The decathlon has long been considered the ultimate athletic proving ground, Jenner has played both gender roles masterfully.”
Jenner was asked to carry the torch as part of the games to help support Ceasars Tahoe’s program of giving back to the community and promoting youth programs in the area.
“Ceasars saw it as a tremendous opportunity…to do something more special,” said Lorsch, “never realizing that we would be creating what is truly a piece of history that originated as a piece of sports history, then evolved as a piece of entertainment history through the Kardashian legacy and becoming a cultural phenomenon through the transition to Caitlyn.”
Ivy said that this is the first significant Jenner memorabilia to reach the auction block, aside from some other minor trinkets and signed memorabilia.
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