Piotr Malachowski
 

Piotr Malachowski valued his Olympic silver medal, but he also knew its value could be better applied by doing something with it.

So the Polish discus thrower did something incredible: Roughly a week after winning the hardware, he has sold it at auction to cover the cancer treatments for a three-year-old boy.

Malachowski announced via Facebook that he had closed the auction early after a Polish couple -- the richest family in Poland, coincidentally -- agreed to purchase the medal at a price that would cover the cost of treatments for the boy, who has eye cancer.

The cost for the treatments is well in excess of $100,000, but pledged funds from a nonprofit organization had lowered the outstanding bill to about $84,000.

Malachowski didn't say how much the medal was sold for, but he did say the buyers "declared their willingness to buy my silver medal for an amount which enables us to meet the goal set."

Presumably, they purchased the medal for close to that amount. Malachowski, meanwhile, can take pride in an accomplishment that might even eclipse what he achieved at this year's Olympic Games.

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