Sergei Yemelyanov will auction his Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medal ©Getty Images

Paralympian Serhii Yemelianov has announced he will auction his gold medal from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to raise money for Ukrainian armed forces.

Yemelianov made the decision due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He announced the auction with Ukrainian television presenter Solomiya Vitvitskaya.

"We ask you to strengthen the protection of our soldiers of the Armed Forces and the defence of Ukraine," Vitvitskaya wrote on Instagram.

"The biggest need now is armour, let's help staff 25 and 30 mechanised brigades together.

"With the Paralympic champion of Ukraine rower Serhiy Emelyanov on my official Facebook page started a charity auction for the gold medal of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020."

Yemelianov won gold in the men’s KL3 200 metres kayak event at Tokyo 2020.

The Ukrainian athlete triumphed in a time of 40.355 seconds.

The Russian Paralympic Committee’s Leonid Krylov and Britain’s Robert Oliver completed the podium in the event.


The starting price for the auction was set at UAH 12,000 (£310/$400/€370).

The minimum bid increment has been set at UAH 6,000 (£155/$200/€185).

Bidding for the gold medal is taking place on Vitvitskaya’s Facebook page.

The highest bid placed will be declared the winner.

The auction is set to close on April 7 at 7.30pm local time.

Yemelianov has won two Paralympic titles in his career having also triumphed in the KL3 200m at Rio 2016.

The 28-year-old has also earned four world titles.