Australian Rower Asks for Help After His 4 Olympic Medals Are Stolen from His Car

Mar. 15, 2025

Drew Ginn, Australian rower.Photo:AP Photo/Gregory Bull

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

Four Olympic medals belonging to Australian rower Drew Ginn have allegedly been stolen out of the athlete’s car, according to multiple reports.

Ginn, 49, toldABCthat the medals were being kept in a sock inside his vehicle when they were snatched. The Australian Olympian had intended to show the medals to students during an upcoming speaking commitment at a school.

According to CNN, additional items were stolen from Ginn’s car during the ransacking — including a GoPro camera, headphones and a wetsuit.

The suspect, a 47-year-old from Windsor, was arrested Wednesday in a Melbourne suburb, per CNN.

Speaking toABC Radio Melbourneafter the theft, Ginn said he “stupidly” left the medals in the car and speculated that the incident was a random ransacking, not the thief going after his medals. “It seemed like someone on the street had come past the car,” he said on the radio show.

Gero Breloer/EPA/Shutterstock

“I just never thought, honestly, anyone would ever take these things,” Ginn told9News, adding that he’s very generous with the medals and letting people handle them.

“There’s got to be 10,000 young kids that have held onto the ‘96 medal,” he told the outlet.

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Detective Sergeant Timothy Reiher of the Melbourne Crime Investigation Unittolda local news station that the medals are “unbelievably rare items with significant sentimental value,” and asked that the public “look out for these medals in pawn shops and online selling platforms” as they continue the search for Ginn’s hardware.

source: people.com