An Olympic javelin thrower auctioned her Tokyo silver medal to raise $190,000 for a toddler's heart surgery

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An Olympic javelin thrower auctioned her Tokyo silver medal to raise $190,000 for a toddler's heart surgery
Maria Andrejczyk. Getty/Javier Soriano
  • A Polish Olympian auctioned her silver medal to raise $190,000 for a toddler's heart surgery.
  • Maria Andrejczyk, 25, came second in the women's javelin throw at Tokyo 2020.
  • Her auction was won by convenience store chain Zabka, which also insisted she keep her medal.
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A Polish javelin thrower has auctioned her Olympic silver medal to raise $190,000 for a toddler's heart surgery.

Maria Andrejczyk, 25, finished second in the women's javelin throw at Tokyo 2020, just three years after being diagnosed with bone cancer.

Following her own remarkable recovery, she will now use the proceeds from selling her medal to help a stranger.

Writing on her Facebook page, Andrejczyk revealed she would be privately auctioning her medal in an attempt to raise $190,000 for Miloszek Małysa, a Polish child who needs life-saving heart surgery in the United States.

"Miloszek has a serious heart defect, he needs an operation," she said. "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.

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"And in this way, I also want to help. It's for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal."

Miloszek's donation page is seeking just over $380,000 (1.5 million Polish zloty) for the surgery. Andrejczyk was hoping her auction would fund half of that amount.

On Monday, she revealed on Instagram that the auction had been won Polish convenience store chain Zabka, with its donation and further contributions surpassing the $190,000 mark she had hoped for.

A post shared by Maria M. Andrejczyk (@m.andrejczyk)

Zabka later added that it has insisted Andrejczyk keeps her medal.

"We were moved by the beautiful and extremely noble gesture of our Olympian," wrote the company on Twitter. "We admire [Andrejczyk] and we are glad that we were able to contribute."

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As of Tuesday, Miloszek's fundraiser has reached 1.35 million Polish zloty ($346,000), around 155,000 zloty ($46,000) short of its target.

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