1980 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Sold at Auction

A gold medal belonging to Mark Pavelich, a member of the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, was sold by Heritage Auctions of Dallas on Friday for $262,900.

The sale marks only the second time a medal from the "Miracle on Ice" team has been auctioned off, with Mark Wells' gold medal fetching $310,700 in 2010.

When asked about his motivation to sell the medal, Pavelich told Puck Daddy “I’m doing a lot for my daughter here. I want her to get a step forward in life.” The sum he managed to fetch for the medal should ensure that his daughter indeed gets a very big step forward.

It should be noted that the team was awarded the gold medal after defeating Finland in the final game of the tournament. The team upset the heavily favored Soviet Union in the semi-finals.