Gary Hall loses 10 Olympic gold medals in Los Angeles fires

Ten Olympic medals, won with years of sacrifice, tears and sweat. Lost forever in a matter of minutes. Among the thousands of California residents displaced by wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area this week is swimming Olympian Gary Hall, now 50, who, like many others, has lost all his possessions priceless, including all 10 Olympic medals won in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. However, Hall is grateful to have saved his life given the risk he took.

smoke and flames

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In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Hall recalled the moment he first saw a “plume of smoke” coming from his backyard. He was on the phone with his daughter when the disaster struck. “I saw the flames break out and the houses start to catch fire. There were explosions. I didn’t have much time – he recalled in the interview – Sunset Boulevard was completely clogged. People abandoned their cars and ran on foot to save their lives , invited by the police. My girlfriend was trapped in her car in the smoke.”

the dog

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The fires spread quickly, and Hall had time to take only the essentials: his dog and some personal items. The house in Pacific Palisades where he rented was destroyed and with it all his Olympic medals, including five gold, three silver and two bronze. Hall thought about it for a moment, but the gravity of the situation made him realize that the only thing to do was to escape as quickly as possible. “I thought about the medals. I didn’t have time to get them – he said -. Everyone wants to know if the medals were burned? Yes, everything was burned. But they are something I can do without, material goods.”

worse than a movie

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Hall described the scene as “worse than any apocalypse movie I’ve ever seen, 1000 times worse”. As well as losing his medals, Hall’s home, where he ran a children’s swimming school, is now completely destroyed. “It won’t be easy when the time comes to go back. I’ll move through the ashes and see if the medals have melted together. Will I be able to find something worth saving? Probably not. I don’t know.”