The five massive rings from the Sydney Harbour Bridge that were the focal point of celebrations during the 2000 Olympics have been sold for $17,000.

The rings, measuring 230 by 130 feet and weighing 110,000 pounds, had been in a storage shed south of Sydney. When a businessman, Bernard Maas, recently bought the shed, he discovered the rings inside.

On the eBay auction site, the rings attracted 17 bids topped by a man in Sydney's Pyrmont, an inner-city suburb near the harbor.

Maas on Thursday said the man, whose named was not released, "put a bid in and ended up winning ... he was having a bit of a chuckle and wasn't too sure what he was going to do."