Historic winner's medal awarded to Soviet basketball player Sergei Kovalenko at the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics. Gilt silver, 66 mm, 158 gm (without chain) or 211 gm (with chain), by Gerhard Marcks; manufactured by the Bavarian Mint. The front is inscribed, “XX. Olympiade Munchen 1972,” and depicts the 'Seated Victory' with the Colosseum in the background; the reverse portrays the mythological twins Castor and Pollux, the patrons of competitive sport and friendship, with the artist's monogram below. This was the first winner's medal since 1928 to feature a new design on the reverse, replacing the traditional depiction of a victorious athlete carried by a jubilant crowd. Includes its original golden chain, a first-place winner’s pin, and a participation pin, the latter two numbered on the reverse, “4850” and “38207,” both made by Bertoni of Milan. Accompanied by two statements of authenticity from the prior owner, Nikolay Kunitsyn, the former President of the Orienteering Federation of Moscow.
The final of the basketball tournament at the 1972 Munich Games remains one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the American team — then undefeated in Olympic competition — leading the Soviet Union 50-49 with three seconds remaining in the game, a series of baffling referee decisions enabled the Soviet team three extra shots at winning the game, which they ultimately did when Alexander Belov caught a full-court pass under the American hoop and laid the ball in before the buzzer. The controversial nature of the ending led to an international outcry, with the U.S. team refusing to accept their silver medals. The Soviet Union was awarded the gold medal, but the game's ending remained a topic of debate and dispute for many years. The offered medal’s lack of an edge engraving is very likely the direct result of the complicated events following the game. A marvelous example of a 1972 Munich gold, one augmented by its intimate association with one of the Olympic tradition’s most contentious moments.
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