AMNH’s “For the Win” Exhibition Celebrates Achievements and Sparkle in Sports
From championship rings to Olympic medals, the American Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibition is a showcase of athletic excellence.
Justin Tuck’s New York Giants Super Bowl Ring, 2012 | Alvaro Keding & Daniel Kim/©AMNH
The American Museum of Natural History’s latest exhibition is one for the history. Celebrating the artistry, history, and cultural impact of the world’s most coveted athletic prizes, the For The Win exhibition showcases more than 70 championship rings, trophies, medals, and jewelry spanning nearly 150 years of sports history.
Located in the Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery, part of the Museum’s Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, it’s no surprise that many of the exhibited objects feature precious gems like natural diamonds. Even Chris Evert’s famous tennis bracelet is on display, representing personal jewelry that has made an impact on sports.
Meet the Experts
Vikki Tobak is a culture journalist, author, independent curator, and producer. She is the Guest Curator for AMNH’s For the Win exhibition and previously worked on the museum’s Ice Cold exhibition featuring iconic hip hop jewelry
Rich Kleiman is the CEO of Boardroom, a sports, media, and entertainment company focused on the intersection of business, culture, and sports and the co-Guest Curator for the For the Win exhibition.
The For the Win Exhibition Arrives at AMNH
The For the Win exhibition opened on May 15th in advance of FIFA World Cup 2026™ and kicks off World Cup, World Cultures: Celebrating the Community and Science of Sport, a series of programs and experiences at the Museum for New Yorkers and visiting fans from around the world.
“Sports have always been an important cultural expression, throughout history, across cultures, and in our present day. The Museum is proud to present this exhibition, which tells key stories from sports over the past 150 years through the world’s most coveted and spectacular athletic prizes,” said Museum President Sean M. Decatur in a press release. “These symbols of achievement are also cultural touchstones highlighting the ways sports interact with, influence, and inform larger society and how we live together.”
Inside the Star-Studded Opening Celebration
To celebrate the opening, the museum brought together Neil deGrasse Tyson, Super Bowl Champion Justin Tuck, and World Champion Boxer Claressa Shields for a conversation, moderated by deGrasse Tyson, about athletics, getting to the top of their game, and what it means to be a world champion. Both Shields and Tuck have objects on display in the exhibit: a World Championship Belt and a Super Bowl Ring, respectively.
deGrasse Tyson emphasized how these objects carry the weight of what’s possible in human achievement. “There’s a big part of this museum that cares about culture, the history of culture around the world,” he said. “When you see those exhibit halls, there are objects on display that that culture valued and created for a reason that mattered in that culture. When I think of sports… It’s a modern version of an anthropological valuation of what we do.”
At the core of the exhibition is an exploration of how moments of victory are transformed into lasting symbols of excellence that resonate far beyond the field of play. “Excellence is rare. The objects in this exhibition are a celebration of the culture of winning—tangible reminders of the great athletes and champions who made greatness something the rest of us could see,” said For the Win Guest Curator Vikki Tobak, author and journalist, in a press release.
“It was exciting to work alongside Vikki and curate a collection of some of the most cherished sports memories and winning celebrations of all time,” added Rich Kleiman, Boardroom CEO and co-founder, and For the Win exhibition’s senior advisor. The American Museum of Natural History is the perfect place to showcase the exhibition, and I can’t wait for people to experience it.”
The Championship Rings, Trophies, and Sports History on Display
The For the Win exhibition is organized into seven sections: Trailblazers, New York City, Opportunity, Victory, The Art of Winning, Olympic Traditions, and Keepsakes.
‘Trailblazers’ celebrates the pioneers and firsts of their categories, like Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win Olympic gold, whose 1912 medal is on display, and Jesse Owens, who made history in Berlin in 1936. The Olympics themselves are honored in ‘Olympic Traditions,’ which looks at how the Games have carried forward ancient symbols of victory and peace, while developing new traditions along the way, and includes objects like Kevin Durant’s 2024 gold medal, which contains iron from the Eiffel Tower.
‘Victory’ is an introduction to the “extraordinary moments of triumph commemorated by sports prizes,” including Kevin Durant’s 2017 Golden State Warriors NBA Championship ring, set with natural diamonds.
Craftsmanship in sports prizes is honored in ‘The Art of Winning’ with the 2026 Vince Lombardi Trophy—the Super Bowl victory trophy—on display along with championship belts, rings, chains, and personal jewelry, including Claressa Shields’s “T-Rex” WBO Middleweight Championship belt and Chris Evert’s tennis bracelet.
‘Opportunity’ celebrates female athletes who have redefined excellence and put women’s sports on the global stage. This includes Ali Krieger’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup medal and Katie Ledecky’s 2025 USA Swimming Golden Goggles Award.
More modest sports prizes are on display in the ‘Keepsakes’ section, including bracelets, watches, tie clips, brooches, and plaques from basketball, tennis, and NASCAR, with highlights connected to the Boston Celtics dynasty and early NBA champions in Philadelphia and St. Louis.
And finally, the ‘New York City’ section honors the AMNH’s hometown with the New York Liberty’s championship trophy, New York Giant Justin Tuck’s Super Bowl Championship ring from 2008, New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart’s WNBA Championship Ring, and more objects unique to NYC’s beloved franchises.
The For the Win exhibition is curated by Guest Curator Vikki Tobak in partnership with Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant’s manager and co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures (35V), as senior advisor. Kate Kiseeva, associate curator in the Museum’s Division of Physical Sciences, is the curator of the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. The exhibition is included with general admission and is designed and produced by the Museum’s Exhibition Department.
