Drunk Hammer Champion Surprised to Discover He Paid for Taxi Ride with Gold Medal
By Kyle Koster
The good news for Poland’s Pawel Fajdek is that he dominated the World Athletics Championships hammer throw event with a toss of 80.88 meters. The bad news is that he followed up the impressive performance with one too many celebratory libations.
When Fajdek awoke the morning after competition, his precious bauble was nowhere to be found. He immediately contacted Beijing police, who helped him retrace his activity. The trail eventually led to the taxi driver who’d picked Fajdek up after his revelry. The driver told authorities the hammer thrower had willingly handed his medal over in lieu of cash.
The man was somehow persuaded to give the gold back to Fadjek to create the most heartwarming hammer-thrower-gets-hammered story you’ll read this week. I can’t say I’d have done the same thing. Big no takebacks believer here.