According to the swimmer who made the announcement, Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte has decided to auction off six of his silver and bronze medals and will give the money raised to charity.
“I don’t want people to think I didn’t care about the medals,” Lochte, 37, told NBC Sports over the phone on Sunday. “I don’t want people to think I didn’t care about the medals.” “I treasure them, but at this point they’re just taking up space in my closet and gathering cobwebs.”
RR Auction featured six of Lochte’s medals, three of which were bronze and three of which were silver. In addition, the auction house in Boston featured a black diamond wristwatch from Brietling as well as a 14 karat white gold and black diamond ring that Lochte had crafted for himself after competing in the 2012 Olympics in London.
The medals, of which one is being auctioned individually and the rest are being offered in a pair and a trio, have already racked up dozens of bids totaling thousands of dollars.
The medal that is being auctioned individually is being offered by itself. According to NBC Sports, they account for approximately half of the total 12 Olympic medals that Ryan Lochte has won in his career, placing him in second place overall behind Michael Phelps’ record haul of 28 total medals.
According to statements made by Lochte to NBC Sports, the proceeds will be donated to the Jorge Nation Foundation. The Jorge Nation Foundation is a charitable organization that raises funds to send children who are battling a terminal or serious illness on a trip of their choosing. According to Lochte, whose agent serves on the foundation’s board of directors, he has been working with the organization for more than a decade.
During an interview with NBC Sports, he stated, “I feel amazing about [the auction] just because I’m going to be helping kids out.”
The individual silver medal that is up for auction was won by Lochte at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens for finishing in second place in the men’s 200-meter individual medley competition.
Ryan Lochte sells six of his Olympic medals
In 2008 in Beijing, he came in third place in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medleys. This earned him two bronze medals.
And Lochte got the two silver medals and one bronze medal that are up for auction as a set at the 2012 London Olympics. He came in second in the 200-meter individual medley and the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay, and he came in third in the 200-meter backstroke.
Lochte told NBC Sports that he will probably auction off some of his six Olympic gold medals for charity in the future. However, he plans to keep his first individual gold medal, which he won in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2008 Olympics.
It’s also not the first time he’s given them away. He told NBC Sports that he often gave kids the medals he won at domestic meets.