Israeli Olympic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat announced Monday that he would be selling the gold medal he won at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships – which was held on October 7 – in an auction whose proceeds would go toward communities in southern Israel.
More stories:
The starting bid for the purchase of the medal is set at $100,000, which will be transferred in full to the Shoresh Fund, which works to provide aid to the victims of Hamas' attacks on October 7.
"Parting with the medal isn’t painful, but emotional,” Dolgopyat said. “It's a medal dear to my heart. A medal that held all my dreams, a medal that is the pinnacle of my aspirations after the Olympic medal. But today I know that there’s something even more important. I know that above all, Israeli society is most important. I won't lie, it's not easy for me, but I feel that through the medal’s auction I can truly give back to the country that gave me so much."
Dolgopyat tried to win the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships for a long time after previously succeeding in winning the silver medal twice before he finally managed to finish in first place this year.
However, his joy was tempered in light of the terrible news that arrived on the same Saturday. "It could have been the happiest day for me and for Israel, but it wasn’t," Dolgopyat said following the competition. "I want to send a lot of strength, hugs and good health to everyone."
Dolgopyat is one of Israel’s best athletes and also one of its most decorated ones – despite his relatively young age of 26. He has won nine medals throughout his career in the World and European Championships, while also taking home the gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just over two years ago.
The Israeli gymnast won two silver medals in the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. In 2017, he stood on the podium in second place in the floor exercise section at the championship held in Montreal, Canada, and in 2019, he repeated the achievement at the championship in Stuttgart, Germany.
He won six medals in the European Championships and is the current European vice-champion after winning the silver medal in the floor exercise section at the championship held this year in Antalya, Turkey.
He won the gold medal in the floor exercise section at the championship held in Munich in 2022, in addition to the gold medal in 2020. Additionally, he won the silver medal in the floor exercise sections in 2018 and 2019, and another time in the horse vault section in 2020.