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Sydney's iconic harbor rings from 2000 Games sell for $17,000

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2000 file photo the Olympic Rings glow on the the Sydney Harbour Bridge the day before the opening of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The five massive rings from the Sydney Harbour Bridge that were the focal point of celebrations during the 2000 Olympics have been sold on eBay for 21,000 Australian dollars ($17,000). (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)

So here's a one-of-a-kind Olympic collectible: the gargantuan Olympic rings that hung from the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia during the 2000 Games have just sold for about $17,000.

Measuring, when assembled, 229 feet by 131 feet and weighing about 55 tons, the rings had been languishing in 40 pieces in a warehouse near Sydney for the last 15 years. The warehouse's new owner found the rings, abandoned and apparently forgotten, once he bought the property.

He listed the rings on ebay and attracted 17 bids, topping out at $17,000. The winning buyer "was having a bit of a chuckle and wasn't too sure what he was going to do," said Bernard Maas, owner of the warehouse. This sounds like it could be the mother of all "what the heck, let's see what happens" ebay bids. Those rings would look great stacked around someone's house, right?

Australia is considering another bid for the Summer Games in 2028, with Queensland a possible hosting destination.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.

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