Tony Martin auctioned his Olympic silver medal for Ukraine and the winner returned it to him
The German won the medal at the 2012 games
Photo by:
fitline_officialpage/Instagram
In March, former professional cyclist Tony Martin auctioned his Olympic silver medal to raise money for Ukraine. The former time trial champion told the world that he would be giving away what he called the biggest trophy of his long career to raise money for the German charity, Wir helfen Kindern, a group dedicated to help children in the embattled country.
Martin was four-time tine trial world champion in the discipline, winning the rainbow jersey in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. At the 2012 Olympics, he took the Silver medal, behind Bradley Wiggins and ahead of Chris Froome.
“It’s not easy to separate me from the biggest trophy I could win in my career,” the 36-year-old Martin posted on Instagram. “But considering the fact that millions of people lost almost everything, it is something I really want to do!”
The auction was ultimately won by a German dietary supplement company, FitLine, for just under $48,000.
However, the story doesn’t end there. After winning the medal, Torsten Weber, the company’s general manager, went ahead and returned the medal to Martin.
“Can you imagine his face when we told him we’re rounding our contribution to 35,000 Euro and also giving the medal back to him?” Weber posted. “Because that’s where it belongs. Thank you again Tony, for making a difference for the children!”
Weber, then, in a wonderful act of kindness, returned the medal back to Tony Martin. “We have the greatest respect for Tony’s selfless commitment. Also, we at FitLine are passionate about sports. We know how much heart and soul went into Tony’s medal from London 2012,” the company posted on their Instagram.
