Gilmore Junio gets gold: Toronto company commemorates selfless swap

ORONTO – When speed skater Gilmore Junio gave up his spot in the Winter Olympics 1000-metre race to his teammate, Denny Morrisson brought home the silver medal for Canada.

And now Junio will be awarded a commemorative medal of his own, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign by Canadians who wanted to celebrate his act of kindness.

 

JACKNIFE @JacknifeDesign

Wow thanks to generous Canadians #ThanksGilmore passed the fundraising goal & we’ll be making a medal for Gilmore!

4:59 PM – 4 Mar 2014

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Organized by Toronto design company Jacknife, the medal presentation will be Wednesday morning at King Edward School in Kitchener, Ontario.

Praised by Morrisson, who said at the time it’s “unbelievable to have a friend like Gilmore,” Junio said his decision to give up his spot was the result of a tense 20-minute discussion.

“At the end of the day it was a no-brainer. Denny’s one of our best skaters and we need him on the ice… so it was easy for me to kind of, you know, step aside and allow the guy to skate,” Junio said. “And obviously it worked out well.”

Morrisson explained he didn’t feel like he should share his medal with Junio, since he believes Junio will “win enough of his own medals. He won’t need half of one of mine.”

And thanks to the donations of Canadians and Jacknife’s project, he’ll get the first of his potential collection on Wednesday.

Check out the medal below: