'Drunk' Polish hammer thrower 'pays for taxi with gold medal'
Polish hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek reportedly used the gold medal he won at the IAAF World Championships to pay for a taxi after a night out celebrating his victory in Beijing.
The 26-year-old, who was the youngest defending gold medallist at this year's Championships, comfortably retained his world title with a best throw of 80.88m on Saturday before deciding to toast his success.
However, according to Chinese media outlet Tencent, Fajdek awoke the next morning without his gold medal and immediately contacted local police to help him retrieve it.
Officers tracked down the taxi driver who had driven the athlete - only to be told he had willingly handed over the prestigous prize to cover the fare, although police reportedly convinced the local to return the medal to Fajdek.
Polish journalists confirmed they had seen the 2013 world champion at a restaurant earlier in the evening where he had 'drunk a lot in the celebration party'.
After the popular, bespectacled Pole cemented his dominance of the sport on Saturday, he said: 'The medal here has an even sweeter taste because my room-mate got the bronze medal.
'The goal was 80 metres and more, although the first two throws were technically not that good. The third was very important and I was happy to improve with my fourth. Compared to Moscow, the medal is different and had its own value and story.'
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