Nyika’s medal stolen

Back-to-back Commonwealth Games boxing champion David Nyika has had his Gold Coast gold medal stolen.

The medal was taken from his car two weeks ago.

Nyika said he realised it was gone when he went to surprise a young fan at their school, only to find the medal was missing.

‘‘At first I was quite embarrassed about it, but now I’m just angry,’’ the 22-year-old said yesterday.

"A kid dressed up as his hero, which happened to be me, for a mufti day at school so I thought I’d surprise him and stop by with my medal. That’s when I realised it was gone. I didn’t notice until then.’’

The medal was stolen along with several other items from Nyika’s car, including vouchers.

Police have released CCTV images of a number of people shopping at a retail store in Onehunga, Auckland.

‘‘We want to speak to anyone who has information or was in the area at the time,’’ detective sergeant Paul Slater of Hamilton Tactical Crime Unit said. ‘‘We also want to speak to the people pictured as we believe they can help us with our enquiries.

‘‘Obviously a Commonwealth Games medal is very distinctive and of high sentimental value to the victim and his family. Our priority is to return this medal to its rightful owner.

‘‘We believe someone will know where it is or who these people are in these photos so we can speak to them.’’

Nyika was in Auckland when he noticed the medal was missing, and contacted police.

‘‘I just want the medal back. It’s almost worthless to anyone but me, you know, so I really hope I can get it back,’’ Nyika said.

‘‘One of the best things about having the medal is being able to go to schools and show it to kids, and now I can’t do that.’’