Paris Olympic torches, other memorabilia auctioned off

Torches used in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and numerous other official memorabilia were auctioned off on Sunday, with fans and a museum among the keen bidders.

The many items from the Games that went under the hammer fetched a total 228,556 euros ($259,634), including commissions taken by the Paris auction house, Vermot & Associes.

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Among them were:

Five Olympic torches that were used in the relay along a path across French territory that eventually led up to the famous cauldron situated near the Louvre. They were sold off for between 12,000 and 20,000 euros apiece.

The red dress worn by a performer playing Marie Antoinette, who appeared with her head chopped off during the imaginative opening ceremony, as a French heavy metal band, Gojira, played. It went for 832 euros.

A French sports museum in the city of Nice swooped in to buy the garlands worn as headwear by French singer Philippe Katerine — whose near-naked performance as a blue Bacchus alongside drag queens created an online storm as Christian groups took offence.

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The museum also bought some 20 other lots, including the costume worn by a performer resembling the “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” character, who ran across Paris rooftops with a torch in hand during the opening ceremony.

One collector online won the bid for a special soft-toy version of the “Phryge” Olympic mascot that was given to gold medallists, paying 3,200 euros for it. The same collector also picked up the Paralympics version of the soft toy, which had a prosthetic leg, for 1,408 euros.

Money raised from the auction was handed over to three charities by the company in charge of the 2024 Olympics, which will be liquidated in June, according to head auctioneer Nathalie Vermot.

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