Erika Salumae's gold medal up 108% at Graham Budd Auctions

Erika Salumae's Olympic gold medal, the first ever presented to a female track cyclist, realised £25,000 ($40,210) at Graham Budd Auctions in London on November 5.

It performed well against an estimate of £9,000-12,000 ($14,528-19,369), achieving an increase of 108%.

Erika Salumae Olympic gold 1988
The medal was sold with an autographed copy of Salumae's biography

Salumae represented the Soviet Union at Seoul in 1988 and was the first athlete from Estonia to ever win gold at the Games.

She went on to break 16 world records over the course of her career - winning the Soviet national championships 16 times, and the World Championships twice.

A Barcelona 1992 Olympic gold medal presented to Salumae achieved an identical price of £25,000 ($40,210). It was the first gold medal presented to an Estonian following national independence in 1991.

An Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold medal, presented to footballer Celestine Babayaro who represented Nigeria, realised £10,000 ($16,084).

The Nigerian team proved a sensation at the Games, beating Argentina 3-2 in the final. Babayaro went on to enjoy a solid career, playing for Chelsea and Newcastle United throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

The current world record price for an Olympic gold medal at auction is $310,700, achieved in 2010 by a medal that was presented to Mark Wells - a member of the "miracle on ice" hockey team that represented the US in Moscow in 1980.

We have a variety of sporting memorabilia available.

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