“Thought I had more time”
Olympic champion loses ten medals in LA fires
01/10/2025 – 11:58 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
In Los Angeles, several fires are devastating the city. Thousands had to abandon their homes to the flames and flee. There is also an Olympic champion among them.
There are terrible images and devastating devastation that Los Angeles in the United States is currently experiencing. Since Tuesday, fires have forced more than 180,000 people to evacuate their homes and destroyed more than 10,000 buildings in the region. A multiple Olympic champion also had to leave his belongings behind: Gary Hall Jr.
The former American swimmer reported on CNN about the dramatic moment of the evacuation and his inner conflict: “I thought I had more time. I saw the fire coming down the hill and knew that I had to get out of there “I had to leave. I opened the trunk of my SUV and loaded in a painting and another object.”
Hall junior also explained: “When I came back from that sprint, hot embers were raining down from the sky and I knew I didn’t have much time left. I could see the embers setting the house on fire and decided to do it “It was time to go. And the medals were in a closet in my bedroom, thirty meters away, I didn’t have time to get them.”
Gary Hall Junior competed in three Olympic Games. 1996 in Atlanta, 2000 in Sydney and 2004 in Athens. He won a total of five Olympic gold medals. 1996 with the 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relay. In Sydney over the 50 meter freestyle, 4×100 meter freestyle relay and in Athens again over the 50 meter freestyle. He also secured three Olympic silver and two bronze medals. The former competitive athlete had to leave a total of ten Olympic medals to the flames.
In the switchboard you could see how difficult it was for Hall Junior. He paused as he spoke as he said: “From the time I saw the first wisps of smoke at the top of the hill, I had about three minutes to the time it came towards me. It was “It’s not easy to leave that behind. I’ve worked for it all my life and the memories remain, but the souvenir is gone.”
In addition to the ten Olympic medals, the former swimmer also won precious metal six times at world championships. These awards also appear to have fallen victim to the fire. Gary Hall Jr. told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse.” A page for Gary Hall Jr. has been created on the “Gofundme” platform.
The description for the fundraiser reads: “Gary Jr. lost his home and livelihood in the devastating Palisades Fire on January 7th. Gary saw the flames from his window while he was home. He was forced to give up everything Leaving behind what he owned, such as irreplaceable family heirlooms, photos and much more, he probably also lost his ten Olympic medals, but nothing can take away the spirit that won those medals.”
The call also states that the former swimmer wants to use the targeted $50,000, which he has already achieved, to buy essentials and start a business.