It was the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia, almost doubling the previous record of US$865,000 paid last year for a silver cup won by the winner of the first modern-day Olympic Marathon in 1896.

The medal was sold by SCP Auctions on behalf of Elaine Plaines-Robinson, wife of entertainer Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, who was a close friend of Owens before he passed away in 1949.