Olympic hero Gary Hall Jr. loses home, medals in LA wildfires

Gary Hall Jr., a former Olympic swimmer who held two world records, revealed he lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires this week. He also said he lost the 10 Olympic medals he won in his career.

“It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse,” Hall told the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s mayhem in Los Angeles. We were surrounded by flames. The embers were raining down on me as I jumped into my car. I had time to grab my dog and just a couple of personal items. It’s just every person for themselves. It’s tough. It’s a big loss … and everything I own.”

Hall has relocated to San Diego to be with his family. A GoFundMe page has been set up and has raised over $40,000 as of Thursday evening.

“I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them,” Hall Jr. told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Everyone wants to know did the medals burn? Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff. It’ll take some hard work to start over. What can you do?

“It’ll be a range of emotions, particularly when it’s time to go back to where the house stood. I’ll shift through the ash and see if the medals melted together. Will I be able to find anything worth saving? Probably not. I don’t know.”

Gary Hall Jr. is ready to ‘start over’

On the GoFundMe page, Hall gave an update on his status. “As much as I am overwhelmed by the loss of all worldly possessions, home and business, I am overwhelmed by the love and support of so many reaching out through this difficult time,” Hall wrote.

“My heart goes out to the countless victims of the fire. Through my learn-to-swim business, Sea Monkeys Swimming, I know and love so many families in this devastated community. There are no words to express how broken my heart is for them. This gets me more than any personal loss. I’ll have to start over. I own a toothbrush at this point. Burning embers rained down as I grabbed my dog and jumped in the car.

“With community support, I’ll acquire a laptop and find a suitable teaching pool to rebuild my business and start teaching little kids how to swim again. It’ll have to be somewhere else. All that remains of Pacific Palisades is ash.”

Hall won five gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in his career. Of the 10 medals Hall won, four came in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, four came in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and two came in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.