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'.
