Piotr Malachowski Auctions 2016 Olympic Medal for 3-Year-Old with Cancer

Polish athlete Piotr Malachowski has donated the silver medal he won in the discus at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, helping a young cancer patient travel to New York for treatment.

According to Jovan Buha of ESPN.com, Malachowski announced on his Facebook page on August 19 he had donated his medal to Polish charity foundation Siepomaga to be auctioned off. 

Per BBC Sport, Malachowski explained the silver medal will mean more to Olek Szymanski, a three-year-old with retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer.

"My silver medal is worth a lot more than a week ago," the Olympian said. "It is worth the health of little Olek. We were able to show that together we can do wonders. It is our great shared success. Winning an Olympic medal is one of an athlete's life dreams. Of course, the most precious is gold."

Malachowski was one of the favourites to win the men's discus after grabbing a silver medal in Beijing eight years ago, but he lost in the final to Germany's Christoph Harting, the younger brother of 2012 Olympic champion Robert Harting.   

The Pole took the lead with his first throw of the final and seemed to be on his way to the gold after he threw over 67 metres three times in a row. Harting shocked everyone with his final throw, however, passing the favourite with a toss of 68.37 metres.

While two Olympic medals are quite the achievement, his latest act also drew praise on social media. Dave Yates of the Daily Mirror loved it:

At the age of 33, the world champion isn't expected to take another shot at the gold in four years in Tokyo.