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World champion hammer thrower uses gold medal to pay for taxi

Published 13:22 25 Aug 2015 BST

Updated 14:03 25 Aug 2015 BST

Patrick McCarry
World champion hammer thrower uses gold medal to pay for taxi

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Hammered. He thinks. He can't really recall.

Polish athlete Pawel Fajdek was making sweet love to his gold medal, on Sunday, after winning the world championship hammer throw final. 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 - Day Two The morning after, however, and the gold medal was gone. In fairness, it was a hell of a one-night stand. Fajdek, who won gold by flinging his weighty 'hammer' 80.88m, went on the rip after pocketing his medal. According to Chinese media outlet Tencent, he enjoyed his celebrations so much that he misplaced the prized accolade. The 26-year-old woke the following morning to discover, to his fuzzy horror, that his medal was A.W.O.L.
He called the police, who were able to trace back his steps and discover a taxi driver. The driver stated Fajdek handed his over after he could not afford the fare. The same outlet report that Fajdek had 'drunk a lot' to celebrate his victory. H/t: ITV Sport