Sale of Olga Korbut medals. Leonid Bortkevich: “The story that Olga Korbut sold her Olympic medals because of poverty is complete nonsense. Sports people are treated better in America

The legendary Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut earned 180 thousand dollars from the sale of Olympic medals. The athlete, who is 61 years old, lives in the USA. She recently donated five sports awards and personal items to Heritage Auctions, 26 of which have not yet been sold. reflects on the reasons that prompted Korbut to part with the awards, and recalls other athletes who decided to take a similar step.

Medal realization

The most expensive in Korbut’s collection was the gold medal for winning the team championship at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. For it, the buyer, whose identity is traditionally not disclosed, paid 66 thousand dollars. The team gold of the 1976 Games in Montreal was valued at 8.4 thousand less. Buyers of Korbut’s silver medals in the uneven bars and beam exercises at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, respectively, paid 24.6 thousand each. The gold award received by Korbut for floor exercises at the Munich Olympics cost 52.8 thousand. Thus, the athlete’s collection only contains one gold from the 1972 Games, won in the balance beam exercise.

In addition to the medals, Korbut managed to sell for three thousand dollars a gymnastic leotard, in which she took part in demonstration performances in London in 1973, and also sold an autograph on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with her image for a symbolic $49. The proceeds for all the relics amounted to 230 thousand dollars, but the gymnast will receive only 183.3 thousand, the rest will go to the auction house as a commission.

Korbut has already sold her most valuable things, but she expects to earn some more money for a collection of accreditations for various competitions, Soviet badges and the first passport of a US citizen, which she received in 2000. The document is now invalid.

The reasons that prompted Korbut to start selling awards and personal belongings are not reported, so only assumptions can be made on this matter. Since the early 1990s, the gymnast has lived in the USA, during which time she managed to get into several unpleasant stories. At the beginning of the 2000s, she was accused of stealing $19 worth of groceries from a store, but the case never went to trial. But her 23-year-old son Richard was sentenced to three and a half years on charges of counterfeiting funds, after which he was deported from the United States. Considering these facts, we can conclude that Korbut did not decide to sell medals out of a good life. A similar opinion was expressed in an interview with “” by the nine-time Olympic champion, who admitted that she had not seen or communicated with Korbut for a long time.

Royal bounty

One of the best football players in history, Brazilian Pele, last June put up for auction his medals, cups, individual prizes - about two thousand lots in total. In total, the “king of football” managed to earn 4.4 million euros from this. The most expensive was a copy of the Jules Rimet Cup, specially made for the Brazilian (the prize was awarded to the winners of the World Cup from 1930 to 1970). For this relic, the Brazilian received 500 thousand euros from an unnamed Swiss watch company. The footballer said that he decided to donate the proceeds to charity.

Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Silver help

The Polish athlete is not such a legendary athlete as Pele or Korbut. He has two silver medals at the 2008 and 2016 Games in discus throwing, two silver and one gold medal at the world championships. The Pole decided to auction off his award for second place at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, using all the proceeds for the treatment of a Polish boy he did not know who was battling cancer.

“An Olympic medal for an athlete is a dream come true. Obviously, the most expensive medal is gold. I did everything to win her. This time it didn't work. I was contacted by the mother of a small child who has been struggling with an orbital tumor since he was two years old,” said the athlete.

As a result, the medal was sold for 84 thousand euros, this amount was enough for 2/3 of the cost of the operation, which was successfully carried out in New York for 126 thousand.

Father for son

Sometimes athletes decide to sell medals not only for charity. Soviet biathlete Nikolai Kruglov Sr. won two gold medals in the relay and the 20-kilometer race at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck. Then he had to sell the awards for the ridiculous amount of five thousand dollars: there was not enough money to train his son, who showed great promise. This was during the difficult years for the whole country in the 90s.

“I don’t regret this. There was just an opportunity. I parted with the medals absolutely easily. Why should I look at them? Do you know who I am? And everyone else knows. Everything is fine. Nothing else matters. There was an opportunity - and thank God. This investment turned out to be a positive result,” said the athlete.

The investment really turned out to be profitable: Kruglov Jr. became a silver medalist in the relay at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, and also won four gold medals at the world championships. After the Games in Italy, the son bought back the medals that his father sold several years ago for the sake of his future.

At the American Heritage Auctions, and 61-year-old Olga lives in the USA, the Belarusian gymnast put up for sale everything that she received during her brilliant career: from the “Master of Sports of the USSR” badge (from $250) and a gymnastic leotard ($2500) to gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Total - 32 lots. And in case some gymnastics connoisseur was ready to shell out money, Olga even included her old American passport.

No, during the two days of bidding, the relics from Korbut were not snapped up and bought for fabulous money, but some still went under the hammer. In total, they raised $230 thousand.

The 1972 Olympic team medal sold for $66,000, the floor exercise gold for $52,800, and the uneven bars silver for $24,600. Gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics went for $57,600, and silver for balance beam went for $24,600. Swimsuit - 3 thousand dollars, autograph on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with her image - for 49 dollars.

According to TASS, the auction house will receive 20% of the proceeds. And Olga Korbut will only have $183,300 left.

That's how much she received, thanks to whom a gymnastics boom began in the world, the one who delighted everyone with her tricks: from the Belarusian hard worker to the American president, the one who was called the miracle with pigtails. This series can be continued with incredible facts from the biography of Olga Korbut, but the question is drilling into the mind: is this really how worldly glory passes? Does the legend not have enough money to live?

But ex-husband and lead singer of the Pesnyary ensemble Leonid Bortkevich asks not to dramatize the situation:

She says she is free to do with her things as she pleases. Why would these pieces of iron be lying around at home?!

- Wow, pieces of iron?! These are unique things.

Yes, they are unique, but they are lying around. Let there be money. But the medals will not disappear anywhere; on the contrary, someone will see them. Wouldn't you do that?

Don't know. But I know that there are things that, if not for the whole world, then for an individual person are priceless. Korbut is unique, just as her medals are unique.

So what? Famous paintings, because they are bought and sold by collectors, do not disappear anywhere.

- But is it really that easy for her to part with medals that were probably very expensive?.

Yes, roads. This is her life, she worked hard.

- So the motive is this: it’s better to get money for these medals now than not get anything and leave them at home?

Of course, it happens that medals are stolen. This is a normal gesture. And then the athletes were not paid anything for these medals. Not like now.

- Or maybe Olga has nothing to live for?

No that's not true. She lives normally.

- How normal?

She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. She has a normal husband, younger than her. Olga is fine. From time to time she trains and teaches children. Olga’s figure is the same as it was, and she can demonstrate many exercises by her own example.

- Do you want to say that she is happy with her life?

Certainly. Here someone can say, they say, this is not patriotic, how can you sell your medals... In the States this is perceived normally. Many stars organize sales of their belongings. But these medals will not be sold anywhere.

- How often do you communicate?

We call each other almost once a week. That's what I'm telling you about the medals, she told me. Although, in my opinion, she sold them cheap. Olga at one time was one of the popular women in the world.

- On her website she introduces herself as a gymnastics mother.

Olga turned the world of gymnastics upside down and led this sport. She did her first somersault on a balance beam, the Korbut Loop. In America they know it and carry it in their arms.

- I don’t even remember the last time Olga was in Belarus?

She sometimes comes incognito. Doesn't like talking to journalists. She was once made famous when it was reported that she had stolen groceries from a store (worth $19 - Ed.). And she left her wallet in the car.

- Is Olga already a grandmother?

Yes, our son Richard gave birth to a boy, Valentin, he is almost three years old.

- Has she seen her grandson?

By Skype. She also communicates with her sisters who live in Grodno.

HELP "KP"

Olga Korbut. Born on May 16, 1955 in Grodno. At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, she won three gold medals and one silver. Then they called her a miracle with pigtails. With a height of 152 cm, 17-year-old Thumbelina weighed 39 kg. Seeing her, US President Nixon exclaimed: “You are so small!” Four years later, in Montreal 1976, she added one more gold and silver to her assets. Her unique risky element, the Korbut Loop, is now banned in gymnastics. In 1977 she graduated from the history department of the University of Grodno. In 1978, she married the lead singer of “Pesnyary” Leonid Bortkevich. They had a son, Richard. Since 1991, Olga has lived in the USA. In 2000, her marriage to Leonid broke up. In America she married for the second time.

At the end of last week, the legendary Belarusian gymnast Olga Korbut, now living in the United States, put her medals up for auction. Today it became known that the sold lots managed to earn a total amount of $230 thousand. The Olympic champion has not yet given any comments on this matter. Although the most common point of view is the following: the medals were sold due to the plight. Her ex-husband, director of his own ensemble “Pesnyary”, Leonid Bortkevich explained what happened.

Taking into account the payment of commissions in favor of the auction house, Korbut will receive $183.3 thousand, gazeta.ru reports.

The gold medal of the 1972 Olympics in the team tournament was sold for $66 thousand. The gold medal of the same Games for floor exercise went at auction for $52.8 thousand, and the silver on uneven bars - for $24.6 thousand. Approximately the same pricing policy turned out to be applicable to the Montreal 1976 trophies. The buyer paid $57.6 thousand for team gold, and $24.6 thousand for silver on balance beam.

In addition to the medals, Olga's tights from her performance in London in 1973 ($3,000) and her autograph on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine ($49) went under the hammer. Another 26 lots have not yet found new owners. These include the last of the Munich awards (gold on balance beam), as well as two medals of the same value won at the 1974 World Championships in Varna, and four silvers from the same tournament.

Korbut did not comment on the auction story. The last post on her Facebook page is dated December 3, 2016.

We turned to Leonid Bortkevich for comment. In 1978-2000, Olga was married to a famous musician, with whom she emigrated to America after the collapse of the USSR.

- Back in the 90s, when Olga and I were in America, a gymnastics hall of fame was opened there. Korbut provided her medals and other significant items for temporary exhibition. One of the exhibition organizers once said: “I would buy these medals from you” - “For how much?” - “For a million.” We joked and forgot.

A few years later the conversation was repeated, although it turned out to be more serious.

- Initially, the joke ended in an auction, which everyone is now discussing. You know, we talk about dear memory. In America the attitude is different. Olga said: there it is believed that every person is free to do with his things as he wants. She did not sell medals because of poverty. Olga's husband is younger than her. A rich man, wealthy. It just happened that way. She says, I have these medals, I sold them. Others don’t, they have nothing to sell. Why will these pieces of iron be lying around at home? Moreover, during her life in America she had already been robbed several times. And the talk that Korbut sold her medals because of poverty is complete nonsense, gossip. She is not poor or destitute.

Bortkevich explains the silence of his ex-wife by his reluctance to make his personal life public:

- Olga does not answer journalists because of an old story. She then came to the store and took some 19 dollars worth of goods. I came to the checkout, but there was no money. She told the cashier that she was going to get her wallet and would be back. But she was detained by security. As a result, the media inflated a whole story about the theft. After this, she does not want to publicly discuss her life.

Olga Korbut was born in Soviet Grodno. Four-time Olympic champion, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. She was the first to perform a unique element, which was later called the “Korbut Loop”. The athlete stands on the high part of the uneven bars and does a flap, clinging to the top crossbar of the bars with her hands. Nowadays the Korbut Loop is not performed at official competitions: rules that have been revised in favor of safety are prohibited.

The legendary Soviet gymnast and four-time Olympic champion Olga Korbut put her Olympic medals up for auction. This was reported by the Sputnik Belarus agency.

61-year-old Korbut decided to sell all her medals at the Platinum Night auction, as well as the famous blue gymnastic leotard she wore in London in 1973. In total, the collection of the former athlete consisted of 32 lots. The auction organizers planned to get a lot of money for Korbut’s things.

However, out of 32 items, only seven were sold, including the team gold of the 1972 Olympics in Munich ($66 thousand), gold in the floor exercise of the OG-72 (52.8 thousand), and silver of the same Games (24.6 thousand). Also going under the hammer was a medal of the highest value in the team competition of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal (57.6 thousand), silver for exercises on the balance beam (24.6 thousand).

Sputnik. by

In addition to the medals, a gymnastics leotard ($3,000) and an autograph on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with her image ($49) were sold. Thus, the former gymnast received 230 thousand dollars for the sale, but taking into account the auction house premium, she will receive 183.3 thousand.

The former husband of the famous gymnast, the legendary “songwriter” Leonid Bortkevich, said that Korbut did not sell the medals out of poverty.

She decided this not because she had nothing to eat or needed money. Not at all. These medals are just lying somewhere. We called each other, and Olga said that she can manage her medals, she earned them and can afford it. This is a huge amount of work, both physical and moral, she is smart. Here someone can say, they say, this is not patriotic, how can you sell your medals... In the States this is perceived normally. Many stars organize sales of their belongings. But these medals will not be sold anywhere.

As Bortkevich said, Olga Korbut lives in Phoenix, Arizona. She married a second time. From time to time she trains and teaches children.

• Korbut, born in Belarus, is a four-time Olympic champion and two-time silver medalist at the Games. She was the first to perform a unique gymnastic element, later called the “Korbut loop.”
• At the age of 15, Korbut became the USSR champion in the vault, and at the age of 17 she went to her first Olympics.

  Since 1992 she has lived in the USA. In 2002, the press reported that the famous gymnast was detained in a supermarket; she was accused of stealing food. The gymnast tried to explain that she had forgotten her wallet in the car and was going to get it. She was released on $600 bail and ordered to undergo an educational program. The passions around “shoplifting” had just died down when the police detained her son Richard and found counterfeit dollars in his house. The guy was deported to Belarus.