Fed: Strickland medals fetch $400,000 at auction

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-2001
Fed: Strickland medals fetch $400,000 at auction

By Ben Packham

MELBOURNE, April 18 AAP - Memorabilia marking the career of Australia's most decorated
Olympian will remain in the country after it was sold at auction in Melbourne tonight.

The 121-item collection of Olympic athlete Shirley Strickland, now Shirley de la Hunty,
was sold in one lot for $400,000.

The auction lasted about five minutes, with the bids rising rapidly in $20,000 increments
from the opening price of $240,000.

Auctioneer Charles Leski would not identify the buyer, who made the winning bid by phone.

But he said the new owner was an Australian private collector, and the memorabilia,
which includes seven Olympic medals and covers more than 60 years, would remain in the
country.

Mrs de la Hunty, who waited in an adjacent room while the auction was under way, said
she was delighted with the result.

"I'm really delighted it's an Australian, and I'm really delighted it's in one piece,
because it's 63 years of sporting history," she told reporters.

"I just hope the buyer takes care of it. That it gets displayed somewhere ... so people
can walk around and look at it all and understand how it all fits together."

Mrs de la Hunty, 75, said she was happy with the price, and intended to use the money
to put her 11 grandchildren through university.

A portion would also be donated towards protecting old growth forests and combating
salinity problems in rural Australia.

Mrs de la Hunty, a war widow, added that she might also pay some bills and that she
was considering taking a holiday.

"It's going to be a lot easier now, I hope," she said.

The Strickland collection includes three Olympic gold medals, one silver and three
bronze from the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, nine trophies and an MBE.

Team blazers, congratulatory letters and photographs were among the other items in
the huge collection.

Mrs de la Hunty said she was relieved the collection was now out of her hands, saying
she was worried about it deteriorating or being stolen.

Among the items she kept were lapel badges given to her at the same time as each of
her Olympic medals.

"They're understated, but I think they're nice," she said.

"The medals themselves have done their duty. They've been fingered by thousands of
school children and adults, they've been shown everywhere, and I think that they deserve
something a little bit safer."

AAP bp/clr/jas/sb

KEYWORD: STRICKLAND NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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