Widow Gets Stolen Olympic Medals Back After Hurricane Ian

When Cathy Oerter opened a package late last year, she couldn't believe what she was holding: four perfect replica Olympic gold medals, identical to the ones stolen from her Fort Myers Beach condo after Hurricane Ian.

The medals belonged to her late husband, Al Oerter, an Olympic legend who made history as the first athlete to win gold in the same event at four consecutive Olympics. From 1956 to 1968, the discus thrower dominated his sport, capturing gold medals that would inspire generations.

Al, a New York native who moved to Fort Myers with Cathy in 1983, kept replica medals specifically for sharing with local schoolchildren. His daughters have the originals, but these copies meant just as much to the couple. They would visit schools together, letting kids hold real Olympic gold and dream bigger.

"That's a joy to see. That's incredible happiness that they're actually holding gold medals," Cathy said. The medals represented something rarely accomplished in sports history.

After Al died in 2007, Cathy continued his mission alone, bringing the medals to schools and watching young faces light up. Then Hurricane Ian devastated Fort Myers Beach in 2022.

In the chaotic aftermath, with constant renovations at her damaged condo building, someone stole the medals. Cathy filed a police report but lost hope of ever seeing them again.

"It was difficult because you lost your community, you lost your home for a while, you lost some people that you knew who died in it, and then to have this theft, it was really tough," she said.

Sunny's Take

The path to replacing the medals seemed impossible. The International Olympic Committee doesn't replace lost or stolen medals, and the original molds from the 1950s and 1960s were destroyed decades ago. Creating new replicas would require finding people with original medals and creating entirely new molds for each of the four different Olympic years.

But someone took on that challenge. An anonymous donor tracked down the originals, commissioned perfect replicas, and surprised Cathy with the impossible gift.

"I couldn't fathom that this was happening, and I had them back again," Cathy said. The gesture restored more than just medals. It gave her hope that even after devastating loss, things can turn around for the better.

Now Cathy faces a choice. She could lock the new medals away safely, protecting them from any future theft. Instead, she's chosen to honor Al's legacy exactly as before. The medals are going right back into schools, where children can hold Olympic gold and believe in their own potential.

Sometimes the greatest victories happen long after the competition ends.

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