What Happens to a Country's Olympic Medals?

Olympic Medals are Usually Treasured Keepsakes

• Winning an Olympic medal typically represents the culmination of years of intense training, practice and sacrifice by an athlete. Beyond the athletic accomplishment, these medals are a source of pride and national honor -- only a small percentage of athletes will ever have the opportunity to represent their country in this way. Because of what the medals represent, most Olympic athletes choose to keep them throughout their lives. Some display them in a prominent place, others wear them at charity events, school presentations or other motivational speaking occasions. They are usually passed down within the family upon the death of the athlete.

Medals Sold Because of Financial Concerns

• Some Olympic athletes sell their medals because they fall on hard times financially. This was common in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, where athletes often struggled financially once their athletic glory faded. Some U.S. athletes also have sold their medals because of economic hardships. Others have sold them to raise money to support a family member or pay for expenses associated with illness. One former Soviet gymnast sold his medals to pay for his brother's funeral after an extended illness had drained the family's financial resources.

Demand for Medals from Collectors

• Sports memorabilia collectors obtain Olympic medals from athletes or other collectors at trade fairs, online trading websites and public auction sites. Prices vary depending on the amount of precious metal in each medal, the popularity of the event or athlete and the year the Olympic medal was won. Highly prized medals from popular sports or athletes -- individual gymnastic or skating medals or those from a national sports hero, for example -- command higher prices than those from less well-known athletes or sports with less visibility. Other widely sought medals include those from Olympics with major historical context, such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics or the boycotted 1980 Moscow games.

Medals Stripped or Not Accepted

• On those rare occasions when an athlete chooses not to accept his medal for political or other reasons, the medal is returned to the International Olympic Committee for storage in the vault at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. If an athlete is stripped of her medals because of a violation of Olympic regulations, as happened with U.S. runner Marion Jones, the national committee seeks the return of the medal(s) from the athlete, then returns them to the international committee. Returning the medals depends on the athlete's sense of fair play, however, because neither the national or international committees can force their return.

How the Public Can Enjoy these Medals

• Athletes can opt to share their medals with the public by loaning them to a school, training center or sports museum. Such displays can be part of a permanent or temporary exhibit on a specific sport or a way to motivate and encourage young athletes to persist in their training. Others are displayed at schools or training centers after the athlete has given them as a gift to a revered mentor or coach in gratitude for her years of support, guidance and encouragement. In a few cases, medals are auctioned at charity events to raise money for a cause. These are then often displayed by private collectors or at the charity's headquarters.