Rare winner’s medal issued to Soviet Union ice hockey player Sergei Starikov for the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics. Gilt silver, 65 mm x 71 mm, 170 gm, by Majdanpek, Belgrade. The front, inscribed, “XIV Zimske Olimpijske Igre, Sarajevo 1984,” features the Olympic rings and Sarajevo emblem; the reverse features a stylized athlete’s head with laurel crown, with the sport engraved to the lower portion: “Ice Hockey.” Complete with its original orange ribbon. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity signed by Starikov.
Held between February 7th and 19th, the men's ice hockey tournament of the Sarajevo Winter Games was won by the Soviet Union team, their first since their ‘Miracle on Ice’ upset and their sixth overall since the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, which marked the Soviet Union’s winter Olympiad debut.
During his legendary career, Soviet defenseman Sergei Starikov won nine national titles and participated in three Olympic tournaments, winning gold in Sarajevo and Calgary, and silver in Lake Placid—all three of Starikov’s medals are being offered in this auction. Starikov would appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he became one of the first Soviet players to wear an NHL uniform when he joined the New Jersey Devils in 1989, along with his friend and defensive partner from the Soviet team, Viacheslav Fetisov.
Only 95 gold medals were produced for the XIV Olympic Winter Games, and of the total 285 medals that were manufactured, 222 were awarded to athletes while the balance was presented to members of the International Olympic Committee and placed for safekeeping in the Sarajevo Olympic Museum.
