Because “the country is doing badly”
Israeli gymnastics world champion auctions gold medal
December 25, 2023, 6:09 p.m
On the day of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, Artem Dolgopyat climbs to the gymnastics throne. Now the Israeli world champion is auctioning off his newly won gold medal in order to donate the proceeds to those affected. The native Ukrainian has a lot to thank the country for.
Israeli gymnastics world champion Artem Dolgopyat is auctioning off his gold medal for a good cause. The 26-year-old became the first Israeli to win the World Championship on the ground in Antwerp on October 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. He wants to use the proceeds to help those affected near the border with the Gaza Strip. “What is the status of a world champion worth if my country is doing badly? For me, the Israeli state comes first!” Dolgopyat said on Instagram.
The native Ukrainian also won gold on floor at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and is considered one of Israel’s greatest athletes. He won silver on floor at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, and in 2022 he won a gold medal for his floor exercise at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Munich, despite injuring his foot a month earlier.
“Give something back to the country”
Dolgopyat added that he would say goodbye to the medal “without pain, but with a lot of emotions.” He explained that this prize was “the culmination” of his ambitions “after the Olympic medal” in Tokyo. The auction price for the World Cup gold medal starts at 100,000 US dollars (around 90,000 euros).
“But today I know that there is something that is even more important than that,” the athlete, who emigrated from Ukraine to Israel with his family at the age of twelve, continued. “I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy for me, but I feel that by auctioning the medal I will be able to really give something back to the country that has given me so much.”
When Dolgopyat won the medal two and a half months ago in Belgium, he didn’t feel like celebrating. A mourning ribbon was stuck to the Israeli flag in which he had wrapped himself. At the time, Dolgopyat could see the horror of the many deaths and injuries caused by Hamas’ major attack on Israel. It was “a very difficult day for our country,” Dolgopyat wrote on Instagram shortly after his World Cup victory and added: “We pray for better days.”