DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images(ATLANTA) — The young girl who found and returned a stolen Olympic gold medal got to meet its rightful owner on Monday, reports WSB-TV Atlanta, a local ABC affiliate.
Seven-year-old Chloe Smith found the medal in a pile of trash while out walking with her father and returned it to Olympic canoe racer Joe Jacobi.
Jacobi won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Spain but lost it back in June after a thief broke into his car and stole it.
He promised he would visit Chloe’s classroom in Atlanta to thank her for returning his prized possession.
“(Chloe asked), ‘Mom when is Joe coming to school?’ She was very excited. She couldn’t wait,” Chloe’s mother, Charlmonique Smith, told WSB-TV.
Speaking in front of her her first grade class, Jacobi praised the young girl’s selfless decision.
“It’s the idea of choosing to do the right thing, and so Chloe, I thank you for good character and doing the right thing. And to her parents and her family, I thank you guys,” Jacobi said.
Jacobi called it a lesson that we can all learn from.
“I think sometimes we don’t give a 7-year-old child enough credit for the choices they can make and the influence and power of one choice on an entire community,” he said.
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