WASHINGTON — Joe Jacobi, a Winston Churchill High School graduate, heads back to Montgomery County, Maryland, monthly to see his father, and was part of the first U.S. team to win the whitewater canoe slalom in the 1992 Olympics.

He carried that medal around everywhere.

“Tens of thousands have held it,” Jacobi said. “Maybe they formulate their own dream.”

But his medal was stolen while he was in Atlanta on June 6. Now Jacobi is offering a $500 reward to get it back and says he won’t press charges.

Jacobi adds that he used the medal to inspire people and that the Olympics are meant to be shared.

A website has been created that has more information on the stolen medal, and how to give a tip or return it anonymously.