(ATR) The Olympic Rings which adorned Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge during the 2000 Olympic Games have sold on eBay for $21,100 AUD today.
The huge steel rings, which measure 40 meters high by 70 meters wide and weigh 50 metrictons, were put on eBay with a starting price of $10,000 AUD with the unusual keepsake selling for nearly twice the starting price, just over $17,000 USD.
Bernard Maas inherited the rings last month when he bought the shed in Goulburn, New South Wales where they had been housed since the Games almost 15 years ago.
"I knew we were getting them [the rings] when we bought the shed," Maas said. "I’ve been wondering what to do with them, but now I just don’t have room to keep them there. I need the shed."
Maas became the center of global media attention this week after placing the very unusual item on eBay.
"If they don’t sell, I guess I’ll put them back up on eBay – and then if they still don’t sell, I’ll be taking them to a scrap metal yard," Maas said.
"It would be a shame [if they were not to be used again]. They are iconic for Sydney, for NSW and for Australia. And with Australia talking about hosting another Olympic Games in 2028, it seems a shame for them to just be
destroyed.
"Maybe the Mayors of Queensland should buy them – it would save them a lot of money!"
The rings were constructed by an engineering firm called Kermac Welding and Engineering based in the rural city of Goulburn, two hours south of Sydney. Following the Games, the rings were returned to Goulburn and the
Australian Olympic Committee agreed on a deal with the city.
"In 2001 the AOC agreed that the people of Goulburn could put up the rings as long as there was no commercial gain, in accordance with the Olympic Insignia Protection Act – OIPA," said AOC spokesperson Mike Tancred.
The AOC had no intention of buying the rings, stating that there are already rings from the Games on permanent display at Sydney Olympic Park and the Sydney International Regatta Centre, preserving the legacy of the Games.
This is not the first time the issue of the abandoned rings had come to light.
Just days before the 10th anniversary of the Games, Kermac Welding and Engineering managing director Don Earle voiced his desire to get the rings out of his factory yard.
Earle said that the rings were rusting on the ground open to the elements, and that discussions with government departments and individuals to assemble and display the rings had stopped because of lack of funding.
Not able to scrap them, Earle must have put them in the shed, and now five years later they found themselves on eBay and now, in the hands of a new owner.
Written by Alice Wheeler
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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