The story of America's exploits at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid is etched into Olympic history with the US team's famous victory over the former Soviet Union en route to the gold medal considered one of the greatest underdog stories in Olympic memory.

Bids for Pavelich's medal, first online and by e-mail, are due to begin on Friday (April 25) through Heritage Auctions, which bills itself as the world's largest auctioneer of collectibles.

Bidding then goes live and is due to end on May 16.

An Olympic gold medal that belonged to Mark Wells, a member of the United States' "Miracle on Ice" team that won at Lake Placid in 1980, sold for more than $300,000 in 2010
©Heritage Auctions

The auction marks the second time a medal from the famous team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, will go on sale following the auction of Mark Wells' medal in 2010.

Wells sold his gold medal to a private collector for $40,000 (£23,834/€28,952) who in turn consigned it to Heritage Auctions of Dallas.

In November 2010 the medal was sold at auction for $310,700 (£185,128/€224,884) to a private collector because Wells needed finances for medical treatment.

Pavelich, 56, is not in any financial distress and, according to Heritage Auction's sports director Chris Ivy, is selling the medal in order to "help his kids out with education, the trust and that kind of thing".

Bidding for the medal will start at $62,500 (£37,240/€45,237) but Ivy sees $250,000 (£148,960/€180,950) as "the floor" with "a lot of spirit bidding beyond that".

The United States' 4-3 victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, dubbed "Miracle on Ice", was even made into a hit film by Disney
©Sports Illustrated/Getty Images




Pavelich earned two assists in the dramatic victory in Lake Placid over the Soviet Union, one of them on the game-winning goal by fellow forward Mike Eruzione.

Eruzione, the team's captain in Lake Placid, told The Star Tribune that he "hates to see it [get sold]" but admitted that "he won it, he knows it and he doesn't need the medal to prove that."

He added: "I will never sell my medal as long as I'm alive."

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