( CNN ) -- A silver cup presented to the Greek winner of the marathon at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896 has sold for a record £541,000 ( $ 860,000 ) at auction in London . It is the highest price paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia , with the sale at Christie 's over in a matter of minutes with the bids leaping £50,000 ( $ 80,000 ) at a time . The previous record was for an Olympic torch from the 1952 Helsinki Games in Finland which fetched $ 400,000 last year . Spyros Louis became a national hero when he won the only gold medal for Greece in the track and field events 116 years ago so it became a matter of national pride that the cup should return to the birthplace of the Olympics . CNN understands that the Mayor of the Marousi District in Athens , where Louis was born , raised 350,000 euros ( $ 458,000 ) to bid . It was n't enough . The new owner is the Greek philanthropic organization , the Stavros Niarchos Foundation , named after the late Greek shipping tycoon . The cup will go on display in Athens and will eventually be given a permanent home in the Foundation 's new cultural center due to open in 2015 . Symbolic value . The cup which fetched such a vast sum is just 15 centimeters high but beautifully decorated in the art nouveau style . Its intrinsic value -- as silver -- is n't very high . But this cup is all about symbolism , an object from the beginning of the modern Olympics . The story of the cup involved three men . Spyros Louis , his grandson and a Frenchman , Michel Breal . Louis had helped salvage Greek pride in the most emblematic of races for the host country . The odds were certainly stacked in their favor . Of the 17 runners , 13 were Greek . But going into the last few miles of the race , an Australian and a French athlete were leading and an expectant crowd waiting in the stadium were subdued . Then suddenly word reached the stadium that the foreigners had both dropped out and a Greek was leading . Spyros Louis was n't considered a favorite and had only finished fifth in a special trial race before the Games , but he proved to have stamina . By trade , he moved water by mule into the center of Athens and it stood him in good stead . Greek hero . By winning the marathon ( then 25 miles ) he instantly became a Greek sporting immortal . Even now in Greece , over 70 years after his death , his name remains a synonym for moving at speed . The 2004 Olympic Stadium is named after him . The King of Greece presided over the award ceremony on the last day of the Games . Spyros Louis received a silver medal , a crown of olive leaves , a diploma and , of course , the special silver cup . And this is where Michel Breal enters the story . He was a distinguished linguist ( usually credited as the founder of modern semantics ) and passionate about all things Greek . He was crucial in persuading his fellow Frenchman , Baron de Coubertin to include the marathon in the first Games . As an incentive , Breal provided the special cup for the winner , Breal 's Silver Cup as it became known . It is unclear who designed it , but the relief decoration shows bird and plant life from the ancient battleground of Marathon . So the legend has it , in 490 B.C. , the messenger , Phidippides ran from Marathon to Athens to bring news of the Greek victory over the Persians , then collapsed and died . Until now , the cup has always been in the Louis family . During the Second World War , it was apparently hidden in a tomato patch in a garden , but more recently it has had pride of place on the mantelpiece in the house of the great athlete 's grandson , also called Spyros Louis , a retired civil servant in his early 70s . Reluctant sale . He agonized for some time , but in these tough economic times in Greece , he reluctantly decided to sell it , to provide for his two children . Two years ago , he did the rounds of various government ministries , offering to sell the cup for a mere 100,000 euros ( $ 130,000 ) but without response . The Greek Culture Ministry did n't seem to have any reservations about granting it an export license and this has ultimately proved to the financial benefit of the Louis family . Michel Breal 's great grand daughter , Katharine Brunt , aged 88 , attended the Christie 's sale . And just before it started , wearing white gloves , she was able to briefly hold the legendary Silver Cup her great grandfather commissioned . It was a touching moment ; she had never even seen the cup before . Katharine Brunt has a mission ; The Silver Cup may be going back to Greece for museum display , but Michel Breal 's tombstone in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris badly needs restoration . Apparently the authorities are threatening to demolish it . On grounds of neglect . There 's evidently a big crack down the middle and $ 6000 is needed . Mrs Brunt is hoping that the newly-enriched Spyros Louis may able to help .
A silver cup presented at the first modern Olympic Games has sold for £541,000 . Sale at Christie 's in London sets new record price for a piece of Olympic memorabilia . Score: 6 A Greek foundation wins the auction and cup will go on show in Athens .