Otylia Jedrzejczak is the most titled Polish swimmer

Otylia Jedrzejczak the Olympic 200m butterfly champion and also won silver medals in the 100-meter fly and 400-meter freestyle in Athens

Otylia Jedrzejczak: Poland’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Otylia Jedrzejczak the Olympic 200m butterfly champion in 2004 has auctioned the gold medal she won in Athens to raise money for children who suffer from leukemia.

The twenty-one-year-olds medal was bought by Victoria Cymes a Polish food company, for approximately sixty-five thousand US dollars. The money from the sale will be donated to the Oncology and Infantile Hematology Clinic at the Infantile Clinical Hospital of Wroclaw, Poland, for treating children who are victims of leukemia.

The original price for the gold medal was set at 50,000 Euros, or US$66,000. It was bid up over 50 percent during the auction.

It is believed this is the first time an Olympic champion has ever auctioned a gold medal he or she has won to benefit a charity.

Prior to the Athens Olympics Otylia was reading a book about a boy who died from leukemia and she vowed if she won gold she would auction her medal as the book inspired her so much to help children with the disease.

She admitted, “I’m extremely happy that we were able to obtain such a high sum of money.” Adding “It will be a nice Christmas gift for these children, and for me that I can help them in some way”.

Alicja Chybicka, the head of the cancer unit at the teaching hospital was full of praise for Otylia “This girl has a heart of gold, it is people like her who make a true difference in those children’s lives. All of our children love Otylia and say she is their hero”.

To make up for her generous gesture the Polish state mint has made a solid gold replica of Otylia’s original gold-plated medal and presented it to her.

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