Olympic Medalist Loses His 10 Medals in L.A. Fires: Gary Hall Jr. Recounts His Escape

Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr. says he’s lost everything in the Los Angeles fires. As the Palisades wildfire and several others scorched acres of land, Hall was forced to evacuate the the Pacific Palisades home he rented, leaving behind the majority of his belongings, including his 10 Olympic medals he now believes burned in the fire.

“It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse. It’s mayhem in Los Angeles. We were surrounded by flames,” the athlete recalled in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. “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.”

Fires erupted in Los Angeles Tuesday. The largest of those, the Palisades Fire, has been declared the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history, having scorched nearly 20,000 acres of land, per CalFire, and destroyed an estimated 1,000 structures. Firefighters are battling several other fires in the area, prompting nearly 180,000 people to evacuate.

“I was on the phone with my daughter. I noticed a plume of smoke coming over the back side of my house. I saw the flames erupt and houses start popping. There were explosions. I didn’t have a lot of time,” Hall recalled. “Sunset Boulevard was a complete logjam. People abandoned cars and were running for their lives. Police were telling them to do that. My girlfriend was trapped in her car around smoke.”

Hall described the ordeal as “tough,” adding, “it’s a big loss … and everything I own.” In addition to the flames destroying his home and the pool where he teaches kids swim lessons, the 50-year-old champion swimmer said he lost his 10 Olympic medals. Hall has five gold, three silver, and two bronze medals from his three Olympic Games appearances, in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

“I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them,” he said. “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?”

Hall said he expects it to be “a range of emotions, particularly when it’s time to go back to where the house stood” and said he will “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. There is no time to take photos or videos when running for your life.”

USA Today reports that a spokesperson for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee confirmed they would be reaching out to Hall. The committee on Wednesday released information regarding the support it is providing its athlete community impacted by the fires.

A GoFundMe page has set up to support Hall said the Olympic medalist managed to save his insulin, “a religious wooden piece” from his daughter Gigi, and “a painting of his grandfather” before evacuating. The page has raised more than $53,000.