Ukrainian Olympian auctioning medals to help war effort against Russia

 One of Ukraine’s most decorated Olympians is auctioning his medals two golds and a bronze in hopes of raising a six-figure donation to contribute to the war effort in his native land.

My Olympic medals won’t matter if Ukraine can’t stand for this fight for freedom and independence, two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban told The Associated Press in an email exchange Wednesday.
Cheban won Olympic gold in the 200 meters in 2012 and 2016 and a bronze in the 500 meters in 2008. SCP Auctions, which is conducting the sale, expects the gold medals to fetch in the neighborhood of $75,000 each, an impressive estimate buoyed by the relative scarcity of available recent medals, and also their meaning.
Cheban will give the proceeds to the Olympic Circle charity fund, a collection started by athletes and targeted toward helping the city of Mykolaiv, which isn’t far from the recently liberated..

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