Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk auctioned off her Tokyo silver medal in order to help an infant in her home country who is in need of heart surgery.
The 25-year-old sold the medal, which was her first Olympic medal, for $125,000 after posting on her Facebook that she would sell the medal in order to help raise money for the surgery needed for the Polish boy.
“He already has a head start from Kubus — a boy who didn’t make it in time but whose amazing parents decided to pass on the funds they collected,” she posted on her Facebook page. “And in this way, I also want to help. It’s for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal.”
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The medal was sold to Zabka, a Polish supermarket chain. With the money raised, it will allow the boy to get the necessary surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Zabka then returned the medal to Andrejczyk after receiving the winning bid.
Andrejczyk participated in her second Olympic competition this summer. She missed out on a medal in 2016 by just 2cm, but won silver in Tokyo after coming back from a shoulder injury and a cancer diagnosis in 2018.