Polish Olympian Auctions Off Silver Medal

Fresh off a second-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a Polish athlete has auctioned off her silver medal for a good cause.

Earlier this month, Maria Andrejczyk stood tall after clinching silver for the women’s javelin throw. Less than two weeks later, she auctioned off the medal to raise funds for eight-month-old Miłoszek Malysa, who needed life-saving heart surgery.

The expense of the procedure – plus travel from Poland to California in the United States – would have cost Malysa’s family $385 000, of which they had already raised $192 000 through crowdfunding.

Launching a campaign on Facebook to raise the other half of the amount, Andrejczyk said in a recent interview: “A medal is only an object, but it can be of great value to others. This silver can save lives, instead of collecting dust in a closet.”

Fortunately for Andrejczyk, the winning bidders – a Polish store chain named Zabka – not only surpassed the funds needed, but also gave the medal back to her.

Zabka said in a Facebook post: “We were moved by the beautiful and extremely noble gesture of our Olympian … we also decided that the silver medal from Tokyo will stay with Ms Maria, who showed what it means to be [a true champion].”

We couldn’t agree more!

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