Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction February 2016

Category: Search By: Title & Description Lot Number Title Description

Lot #28: Ed Belfour's 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Ice Hockey Gold Medal Won by Canada In Original Presentation Box

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/24/2016



Classic Auctions is proud to present bidders with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a true piece of Canadian hockey history, with an item seldom made available to the collecting community. This is the actual gold medal won by Ed Belfour while representing Canada at the nineteenth winter Olympiad in Salt Lake City in 2002. Despite enduring a half century of drought, the 2002 Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team was led by the off-ice presence of Wayne Gretzky, who for the first time was responsible for taking a leadership-roll from a managerial position as the executive director. Wayne embarked on a unique approach, embracing a unified team goal both with the “Commit To Gold” coins distributed to players, along with his now-famous motivational speech that elevated the national team to a monumental victory. Manufactured by O. C. Tanner and designed by Scott Given, the 567 gram medal has been fashioned to resemble rocks found in host state Utah’s many streams and river beds. Unique in design, this was the first time in Olympic history that the medals designed would vary for each sport. Featuring a centralized image of a generic athlete bursting through flames with torch in hand, it’s anchored by the Olympic rings in the lower portion along with the official 2002 theme “Light the Fire Within”, etched into the left side. The reverse includes an encircled image of the Greek goddess of victory Nike, holding a small leaf symbolic of the olive wreaths originally given to victors of the ancient games. Within the central portion is an image of ice hockey, encompassed by “Salt Lake City 2002” and “Men’s Ice Hockey”. With an 85mm diameter and 10mm thickness, the medal comes in its original elegant display box. Solid wood construction with a rich dark finish, the display case features the Olympic rings on front in gold, with a personalized certificate mounted on the left side of the interior, and the medal on the right side, housed in a removable velvet mount. As previously mentioned, this is a rare opportunity to own an actual Olympic gold medal with a provenance just as impressive, with Hall of Fame goaltender Ed Belfour originally being presented with this unique medal for his important participation with the victorious Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team.



The certificate that has been mounted into the medal’s display case has the Olympic rings at top with “Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake 2002”, along with “Ed Belfour” and “XIX Olympic Winter Games”. This is followed by the same text in French with the February 24th 2002 gold medal game date, as well as facsimile signature in the bottom section from the President of the Olympic Committee, and the President of the Organizing Committee.

Prev Next