Olympic gold medal won by Owens to be sold

A gold medal that US track and field great Jesse Owens won at the 1936 Berlin Games will be auctioned later this month.

A gold medal won by track and field great Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics will be auctioned. (AAP)

One of the four Olympic gold medals won by track and field great Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games is set to go on the auction block.

SCP Auctions says the medal could sell for upward of $US1 million in the online auction that runs from November 20 until December 7.

Owens won gold in the 100m and 200m, the 400m relay and the long jump at the Games attended by Adolph Hitler.

According to the Laguna Niguel-based auction house, the medal to be sold is unidentifiable to a specific event.

It says Owens gave the medal to his friend, the dancer and movie star Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, as a thank you for helping Owens find work in entertainment after he returned from Berlin.

The medal is being sold by the estate of Robinson's late widow, Elaine Plaines-Robinson.

SCP Auctions Vice President Dan Imler said on Monday the Owens family confirmed the medal is original; the whereabouts of the other three is unknown.

Owens was later issued a replacement set that is part of an exhibit at Ohio State, his alma mater.