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New York’s American Museum of Natural History is getting a serious dose of championship energy this spring.
Opening May 15, “For The Win: Objects of Sports Excellence” will bring more than 70 glittering symbols of athletic glory—from Olympic medals to Super Bowl hardware—into the museum’s Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery, set inside the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals.
Among other items, that means the Vince Lombardi Trophy itself will be on view. The sterling silver prize, which has been handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. since 1967 and awarded annually to the Super Bowl champions, anchors an exhibition that spans more than 15 sports and nearly 150 years of competition. The show aims to trace how trophies, rings and medals evolved alongside modern sports culture.
Among the most poignant highlights is one of Jesse Owens’s gold medals from the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a reminder of the runner's historic four-gold performance on one of the world’s most politically charged stages. The exhibition also highlights New York’s own sports legacy, featuring 2024 WNBA championship rings worn by New York Liberty stars Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, alongside Kevin Durant’s Team USA Olympic gold medal from the 2012 London games.
The exhibition launches ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will kick off the museum’s broader programming initiative, “World Cup, World Cultures: Celebrating the Community and Science of Sport,” designed to welcome global visitors and spotlight the intersection of athletics, science and storytelling.
Guest curator Vikki Tobak, known for her work on hip-hop jewelry exhibitions, collaborated with Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman as a senior advisor, bringing a pop-culture lens to objects that often live behind velvet ropes.
The result feels different than a traditional sports hall of fame, partly thanks to the setting. Situating championship rings and trophies among dazzling gemstones shows how we treat these objects as modern relics. Whether you’re a die-hard sports fan or just here for the shine, “For The Win” will transform the museum into a celebration of victory as it tells the stories behind the hardware, not just the final score.