According to the Polish Olympic Committee, the silver medal won by 25-year-old Klaudia Zwolińska in canoe slalom has been put up for charity auction.
This medal, which was the first for the Polish team at this year's Olympics, is available for bidding on allegro.pl until September 16. The proceeds will support the Polish Cystic Fibrosis Association.
“This medal is invaluable to me as it represents hard work and the pinnacle of my athletic dreams,” Zwolińska said during the medal’s ceremonial handover for charity.
“Many athletes dream of competing in the Olympics and fighting for a medal. Achieving that is a dream for many, if not all athletes. However, I am committed to sharing Olympic values and the medal itself,” she added.
Zwolińska, a silver medalist in canoeing, is acutely aware of the seriousness of cystic fibrosis.
Her fiancé, Grzegorz Hedwig, lost one of his sisters to the disease, and his other sister also suffers from it.
Other prominent athletes, such as Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli and Otylia Jędrzejczak, have also been involved in supporting cystic fibrosis patients.
Around 1,800 people in Poland face high treatment costs, with monthly treatment expenses reaching tens of thousands of złoty.
In Poland, drug reimbursement starts only from the age of twelve, whereas in some European countries it begins at two years old, explained Prof. Dorota Sands, President of the Polish Cystic Fibrosis Association, to the Polish state news agency PAP.
In the expert's view, modern medications could significantly improve the condition, turning cystic fibrosis from a fatal to a chronic illness.
Source: IAR/PAP/PKOl/Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
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