Historic gold medal goes to auction

The first-ever Olympic gold medal won by a British woman in an individual swimming event will go to auction later this month.

Lucy Morton won the award at the Paris games of 1924, where team-mates Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, whose story was told in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, also took gold.

Morton’s medal will go under the hammer alongside 39 of her other awards and a selection of memorabilia that tells the tale of her career from what may have appeared an unpromising beginning.

In her handwritten memoirs, she recalled: “At the age of 10 I was at Christchurch School in Blackpool and Mrs Phillips, the headmistress, sent a note to my father stating that I was the biggest dunce in the school and suggested swimming might brighten my ideas up a bit.”

The collection goes on sale at Hansons Auctioneers’ Sports Memorabilia Auction on 22 August with an overall estimate of £30,000-£40,000.

Highlights include Morton’s Olympic gold medal, estimate £10,000-£12,000, and a bracelet made out of five gold medals awarded for breaking world records between 1913 and 1920, estimate £15,000-£20,000.

Photo credit: Hansons Auctioneers