Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, Olympic windsurfer, will auction bronze medal to help girl with Cystic Fibrosis
LONDON — Zofia Noceti-Klepacka of Poland won the bronze medal in the women's RS-X at the London Olympics, a windsurfing event that involved a heavy sailboard.
Now she intends to sell it — but for a very worthy cause.
Noceti-Klepacka has a neighbor named Zuzia, a 5-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis. She requires constant care, and that care has proven to be a financial challenge to her family. She's also Noceti-Klepacka's biggest fan.
So Noceti-Klepacka vowed before the Summer Games that if she won a medal, she would put it up for auction, with the proceeds going to Zuzia and her family.
She placed third in the women's RS-X final, finishing just three seconds ahead of a rival from Finland and capturing the bronze medal for Zuzia.
Via Polskie Radio (translated), Noceti-Klepacka said:
"Susan is my neighbor, I know her since birth. I've seen that had problems, how many times was in the hospital, she spent much time there, her mom.
"Everyone here is praying that Susan survived. Now maybe you can not see it, but cystic fibrosis is a fatal disease before the Games and said that I was going to London after the medal for her."
No word yet on how and where the medal will be auctioned. Maybe she's waiting to see how Evander Holyfield sets the bronze-medal auction market.
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