Polish athlete Maria Andrejczyk won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Women’s Javelin Throw., but she did not covet the medal, and instead is using it to help save a life.
After the Olympics, Andrejczyk, who is a devout Catholic, revealed that she intends to give away her medal and auction it to cover a costly surgery for a 8-month-old boy named Miłosz who is suffering from a serious heart defect.
The athlete said on Aug. 16 that the auction was won by the “Żabka” chain of convenience stores in Poland. More than half a million PLN (€110,000) was raised for Miłosz. Andrejczyk ended the auction as soon as possible to ensure that the boy would quickly receive the funds to travel for surgery in the United States.
She admitted that she gladly gave her medal to “Żabka” and emphasized that the award was “a symbol of fight, faith and striving for dreams despite adversity. I hope that for you this will be a symbol of life for which we fought.”
Meanwhile, Żabka informed on Twitter that the company was greatly moved by Andrejczyk’s noble gesture and decided to leave the silver medal in the athlete’s hands.
“We were greatly moved by the incredibly beautiful and noble gesture made by our Olympian, which is why we decided to support the fundraiser for young Miłosz. We also decided that the silver medal from Tokyo will remain with Mrs. Maria. We admired you and are glad that we could help!”
The 25-year-old Maria Andrejczyk went through a long journey to achieve a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Ever since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in which she came fourth, the athlete had struggled with health problems which would have spelled the end of the careers of many other athletes.
Andrejczyk struggled with chronic problems with her shoulder and in 2018 she was diagnosed with a mild sinus cancer. Fortunately, her surgeries were fully successful. In the end, she fought with a torn shoulder muscle in Tokyo and won her long-desired medal.
