Olympic taekwondo champion Lauren Burns has pleaded with thieves to return a gold medal stolen from her home.
Burns, a surprise winner in the 49kg division at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, returned from Paris on Wednesday to find her medal had been stolen during a robbery.
”I’m totally devastated,” Burns said on Thursday. ”I had so many dreams last night about finding it. I got up this morning and felt that it was going to be there on the kitchen table.
Burns said police believe the thieves did not realise the medal has no value to anyone but her.
”We’re just hoping that they will be able to find it in the kindness of their hearts to give it back to me,” Burns said.
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief executive Bob Elphinston said the AOC will seek a replacement for Burns’s medal if it is not found.
”If for some reason the medal is not returned in the next couple of months the AOC will approach the International Olympic Committee [IOC] requesting a replica,” Elphinston said.
”The IOC has been very supportive of athletes who have found themselves in these heartbreaking situations in the past where their medals, uniforms and other precious memorabilia have been stolen and I am sure the IOC will be sympathetic to Lauren’s plight.”
Elphinston helped Australian marathon runner Robert de Castella get back his Commonwealth Games medals, lost in wildfires earlier this year.
The AOC also assisted 1952 Olympic cycling gold medallist Lionel Cox, and later presented him with a replica medal.
Heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali was the recipient of the most famous replica medal. He lost his gold from the 1960 Olympic Games and was presented with a replacement in 1996. — Sapa-AP