Field hockey player Sofia Maccari receives new Olympic silver medal after original was stolen

All is not lost when an Olympic medal is lost or stolen.

Argentine field hockey player Sofia Maccari received a replacement Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medal after the medal she won last year with “Las Leonas” (The Lionesses) was stolen.

Maccari, 38, who also won an Olympic silver medal in London in 2012, had her newest acquisition, the Tokyo medal, with her on Sept. 8, 2021, so she could show a friend. Armed robbers assaulted her and stole her car, her cell phone, the medal and other personal effects.

After Maccari revealed the theft on her social networks, she said the robbers tried to extort her. They sent her videos showing the medal and asked for her cell phone passwords in exchange for returning the medal. However, according to AIPS, the thieves offered no reassurance Maccari would actually receive the medal if she gave up her personal information, so she declined.

The player appealed to the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA), whose president Mario Moccia made a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a replacement.

Although police have arrested one of the thieves, who is 17-years-old, the whereabouts of the medal is still unknown.

Maccari received her new medal in a ceremony at the COA offices. “This moment is very important for me because it represents all effort that one makes for a long time to get this medal,” Maccari said. “With all my heart I want to thank the people of the Argentine Olympic Committee, all those who helped on social networks and the girls on the team, who helped me make a huge mobilization.”

She added, “Thanks to the IOC for giving me back this medal that I love so much.”

Maccari’s situation is unusual, but not unique. There are actually regulations for replacing lost or stolen Olympic or Paralympic medals and the IOC has said in the past it receives one or two requests a year. Athletes must file a request to the IOC through their national Olympic Committees and pay for the cost of the medal. In 2014, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced an insurance policy that would pay for any replacement of Sochi 2014 or Rio 2016 medals should they go missing, citing a cost of between $500 and $1,200 for each medal.

The great Jesse Owens received a new set of four 1936 gold medals after his original medals were given away or otherwise misplaced over time. Some of those medals, including one he gave to his friend Bill “Bojangles” Robinson have resurfaced over the years and sold at auction.

According to legend, Cassius Clay, later to change his name to Muhammad Ali, threw his Rome 1960 gold medal into the Ohio River as a protest of the racism he encountered when he returned home. The boxer was awarded a new gold medal during the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games after his electrifying performance in lighting the cauldron. Discus champion Al Oerter loaned his own gold medal to the manufacturer so an exact replica could be made.

Now Olympic organizing committees are instructed to send molds for the medals to the IOC so replicas can be produced in case they are needed.

Maccari left the national team in 2013, but returned in October 2020 upon the arrival of a new coach and again became an integral part of Las Leonas.

She said she was criticized for not keeping the medal in a safe place. “For those who ‘judge,’ I tell you that I had the medal with me to take it to a friend who helped me a lot throughout the Olympic process,” she said. “It is not only my own achievement, but also of many people who accompany us along the way. And the most beautiful thing is to share it.”

Moccia was pleased that the COA could help. “Here at the Argentine Olympic Committee, we were able to return to Sofia Maccari something as important for an athlete as an Olympic medal, achieved with so much effort. We are happy and gratified for Sofia and for the role we were able to play in helping this end well.”

Japanese softball pitcher Miu Goto received a free replacement medal from the IOC after the mayor of her city bit down on her Tokyo 2020 gold medal. In olden days, the “bite” test was a way to test the authenticity of gold, but nowadays it is simply a photo op. The move was criticized harshly on social media as unhygienic and disrespectful, and the Nagoya government received more than 7,000 complaints. The mayor apologized.

Organizing committees usually have spare medals in case of ties.

“With support from the International Olympic Committee and in line with her own intention, Ms. Goto’s medal is now set to be exchanged for a new one,” Tokyo 2020 organizers told Reuters.

Alexei Ramirez, who won a gold medal in baseball for Cuba in 2004, said his medal was stolen as he and his wife moved to the United States. His new team, the Chicago White Sox, sent the IOC a police report and payment for a new medal in 2012. However, the IOC did not have a replacement ribbon.