Cops in Brazil have found an Olympic gymnast’s stolen medals in a rubbish bin following an anonymous tip-off.

The medals were recovered from a bin in front of a house in the neighbourhood of Jardim Adalgisa in the Brazilian municipality of Osasco in the Greater Sao Paulo metropolitan area on 9th February.

The medals were stolen four days prior from the home of Arthur Nory, 27, who won the bronze medal in floor exercise at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the Lapa district of Sao Paulo.

The robbery took place on 5th February when two men entered Nory’s residence and overpowered and tied up two people. They proceeded to steal 33 medals belonging to the athlete.

Nory took to Instagram to post a photo of his empty wall following the robbery, writing of his stolen medals: “They are symbolic objects, but they represent all of my sweat, work and dedication.”

On the day of the robbery, a 64-year-old woman, who is an employee of the house, was overpowered by two men as she went to the front door of the residence, which gives access to the garage.

She and another employee were tied up, and the latter was locked in the bathroom.

According to the woman, the suspects then entered the property and took the medals, a rucksack, vehicle keys and a driver’s license. The pair then fled without taking the car, which was in the garage.

Nory told local media: “They just took the medals, they didn’t take my notebook, TV, anything else, nothing of financial value.”

Nory’s two most priceless medals – his bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro for floor exercise and his gold at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart for the horizontal bar – were not stolen during the robbery as they were stored elsewhere.

The police are currently analysing CCTV footage to try to identify the perpetrators of the crime.

Nory took to Instagram to share his delight at the news that his stolen medals had been recovered, writing: “I’m shaking all over and you can’t imagine how emotional it is!”

He also gave thanks to everyone involved in the operation to recover them.

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