Polish javelin thrower, Maria Andrejczyk, has been applauded for his sacrifice after she puts up the silver medal she won at the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympic on auction to help fund a toddler’s £130,000 life-saving heart surgery.
UK Sun reports that Andrejczyk whose silver medal is one of five won by Polish athletes at the Games vowed to put her Tokyo 2020 medal to good use after beating bone cancer.
Poland finished the pandemic-delayed Games with a total of 14 medals including four gold, five silver and five bronze medals.
The 25-year-old wrote on her Facebook page: “Miloszek has a serious heart defect. He needs an operation.
“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.
“And in this way, I also want to help. It’s for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal.”
Andrejczyk’s there a personal best of 71.40 which is the third-longest ever hurled by a woman in the javelin, however, her gesture has set a benchmark beyond her Olympic record.
The Times report her as telling Polish television: “The true value of a medal always remains in the heart.
“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. That is why I decided to auction it to help sick children.”
