Poland's Maria Andrejczyk won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a best attempt of 64.61m in the women's javelin throw final on August 6. While Andrejczyk's performance got her a podium finish at the quadrennial event, it was her kind gesture after the Games that made people across the world stand up and tip their hats to her. Andrejczyk auctioned her Olympic silver medal to help raise funds for an eight-month-old boy who needed a heart surgery in the USA.
Andrejczyk took to Facebook on August 11 to announce that she would be auctioning her Olympic silver after coming across a fundraiser for Miloszek Malysa.
"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," ESPN translated Andrejczyk's Facebook post which she wrote in Polish.
On Monday, Andrejczyk announced that a supermarket chain -- Zabka -- won the auction by placing a bid of USD 125,000. In another post on Facebook, Zabka revealed that the medal will stay with the 25-year-old Olympian from Poland.
Andrejczyk had missed out on a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics by a whisker after finishing fourth with a best attempt of 64.78. She missed out on a podium finish by a margin of 0.02cm.
In 2019, Maria Andrejczyk underwent a surgery after being diagnosed with an osteoma, a benign bone tumour. However, she recovered and got her first Olympic medal in Tokyo.