At last summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, the U.S. women’s volleyball team celebrated a historic victory over Brazil, winning gold medals for the first time.
Less than 10 months later, one of those gold medals is missing after it was stolen from Olympian Jordyn Poulter’s parked car in Anaheim, where the team trains.
She told police that she had parked her car in her garage on Wednesday afternoon and went inside to take a call, leaving the car unlocked and the garage open. When she came back later, she saw that someone had rummaged through the car and opened the center console, taking a bag where she had her passport and her medal.
“A gold medal, that’s a difficult one,” Poulter told reporters on Friday at the team’s training gym in Anaheim.
Poulter, a 24-year-old who plays setter, said her initial reaction was thinking, “Why didn’t I shut the garage door?”
“It’s just an unfortunate bummer,” said Poulter, who is originally from Aurora, Colo.
She said she keeps the medal with her to show to friends and family, or to people she meets who ask to see it.
“It’s not pure gold, so if you try to melt it down, it’s not going to get you very far,” Poulter said. “The inside is made of recycled computer parts and then plated. So it’s not worth much in that sense.”
Karch Kiraly, the coach of the Olympic team, said the gold medal could in theory be replaced, but it would be much easier if the person who took it would “out of the goodness of their heart” understand its importance and return it.
“There’s not a ton of value in there. And the huge amount of value is all it represents in this team and all it went through to win one of those, and in Jordan and her career, and all the effort she put in,” Kiraly said. “The value lies in the experience and the countless hours that anybody puts in to help a team win one of those.”
If someone comes to the Anaheim police to return the medal, Kiraly said, there would be “no questions asked, no consequences.”
“We’re just keeping fingers crossed,” he said. “We’re keeping our hopes up.”
Kiraly pointed out that in another recent case, Paralympian Jen Yung Lee recovered three gold medals after they were snatched in a car break-in in San Antonio.
The Anaheim Police Department is asking the public to get in touch with any tips, photos or surveillance video footage. The theft occurred on the 1500 block of East Lincoln Avenue.
“Our big thing is we want to make sure that Jordyn gets her medal back,” Sgt. Jacob Gallacher said. “That medal represents many, many years of blood, sweat, tears and hard work, and it has a lot of value to her personally.”
Police are also checking pawn shops and online sites where someone might try to sell the medal, Gallacher said. Anyone who has information to share can contact police or Orange County Crime Stoppers, which accepts anonymous tips, at 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227).
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
