Romanian swimmer David Popovici donated one of his 2022 World Championships gold medals, having it melted to benefit children with cancer.
In a video featuring Popovici from the Romanian medical laboratory company MedLife, the ribbon is cut off a 2022 World Championships gold medal. The medal is then dipped into a machine that melts it.
The medal is being cut into more than 100 gold bows -- a symbol of the fight against childhood cancer -- that will be given to children who beat cancer, according to MedLife.
“Hope is immune to cancer,” the 18-year-old Popovici shared in an Instagram post.
The medal is Popovici’s gold from the 200m freestyle, according to MedLife. In that race, Popovici won in 1 minute, 43.21 seconds, the world’s best time in 10 years. He became the first Romanian man to win a world title and the youngest male gold medalist from any nation in 15 years.
Two days later, Popovici won the 100m free, becoming the first swimmer to sweep the 100m and 200m frees at a worlds since the very first edition in 1973. Two months later, he broke a 13-year-old world record in the 100m free, becoming the youngest male swimmer to break an individual world record since Michael Phelps.
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