Athlete-Worn Nike Moon Shoes From 1972 Olympic Trials Are Selling at Auction

Goldin Auctions is selling a pair of Nike Moon Shoes. This particular pair has been worn by Paul Talkington during the 1972 Olympic trials. Directly from the wearer’s own collection, this pair of shoes is only one of 12 ever made.

Just a couple of years ago the Moon Shoe sold for $100,000 USD at Sotheby’s. A piece of sneaker history, the shoe was designed by Nike co-founder and ex-University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman who also designed the shoe’s signature waffle outsole. The shoe received its name from the way the waffle sole left marks in the dirt and its semblance to the tracks left on the moon in the 1969 landing.

The sneaker rarely comes up for sale, since only 12 pairs have ever been made. The hand-cobbled, waffle-soled shoe has one pair that remains on display at the Nike headquarters forever. Now, this athlete-worn pair adds an additional historical element to the shoe. Talkington releases a statement sharing, “I remember receiving a notice that a store was giving away a pair of new shoes to the runners in the marathon. I went to a house near the stadium in Eugene. Went into the basement where they had a shoe store and a setup for making the shoes. They measured my feet and said that I could come back in a day or two and pick up the shoes. They asked us to wear the shoes in our races at the trials. I ran the marathon and finished with two very sore, blistered and bloody feet. I finished in 12th place.”

For more information, check out the listing here. The bidding for the Moon Shoe starts on August 17 and is open to the public.