Tokyo Olympics medalist Maria Andrejczyk auctions her silver medal to raise funds for an eight-month old's heart surgery

In a great humanitarian gesture Polish Javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk, who came second in the Tokyo Olympics, auctioned her Silver Medal to raise funds for the heart surgery of an eight-month-old boy in her country. Poland abka Polska's convenience story company bought Andrejczyk's silver medal for a whopping $125,000. Meanwhile, the company was generous enough to ask Maria keep the Silver Medal with herself. The kid will undergo surgery at Standford University, as per a report in Daily Mail.

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Maria Andrejczyk had won the Silver medal after throwing the Javelin at a distance of 64.61 metres. China’s Liu Shiying claimed a podium finish after covering a distance of 66.34 m while Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia took bronze with 64.56 m. Maria, fourth at the 2016 Games, was one of the favourites to win gold after producing a 71.40 metre throw in May. However, she could not replicate her form and eventually had to settle for a silver.

Maria opened up on the decision to auction her medal and said she had no doubts about auctioning the medal as she wanted the help the kid survive the disease.

"It was the first fundraiser I entered and I knew it was the right one," she wrote on her Facebook wall on August 11 in her native language. The fundraiser was for a young Polish boy who goes by the name of Miloszek. He has a serious heart defect and requires surgery.

"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," she wrote on social media.