Music: {allcanada} CANADIAN TANNER AUCTIONING OFF 1968 SWIMMING MEDALS

Friday, June 3, 2011

{allcanada} CANADIAN TANNER AUCTIONING OFF 1968 SWIMMING MEDALS

DELSON, Que. -- Canadian Olympic swimming hero Elaine Tanner is auctioning off her medals from the 1968 Mexico City Games.

Classic Auctions is offering Tanner's silver medals from the 100- and 200-metre backstroke, as well as the bronze she won 4x400-metre relay when she became the first Canadian woman to win three medals at a single Games.

Known as "Mighty Mouse," Tanner captured Canada's first Olympic swimming medal by a woman, but her life would unravel soon after under the pressure to win gold and disappointment of silver. She suffered from depression and quit swimming when she was 17.

"I feel that it's time to let go and move on," Tanner said in a video posted on her website. "So it's a win-win, I need some help in moving on and creating a new dream."

The Canadian Press female athlete of the year in 1966, Tanner is also offering the four gold medals and three silver medals she won at the Commonwealth Games that year at the age of 15, along with other memorabilia.

"All the experiences I had as an athlete are incorporated into my being, but I don't really need the stuff anymore," Tanner said. "It's just things and my life is full of more tangible experiences and new things that I want to try, and by letting that go I'm able to move on to my new direction."

The auction runs until June 21.

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