Gary Hall Jr.'s Olympic medals replaced by IOC after burning in Los Angeles wildfires
Gary Hall Jr., a 10-time Olympic champion, lost his Olympic medals earlier this year in the wildfires that raged throughout Southern California. The fires burned down a house he was renting in Pacific Palisades, California.
But he recently received 10 replica medals from IOC President Thomas Bach to replace them during what Hall Jr. called an "emotional" ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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'I'm emotional, it's hard for me to put words together in this time. I would like to express my gratitude first and foremost," Hall said, according to Olympics.com. "I cannot thank the Olympic Movement enough for their support through this very difficult time.
"Their realizations through this process that outweigh the sense of loss and that is this word of solidarity and what it means: the value of friends outweighs the value of objects, and character cannot be taken away, it cannot be burned, it cannot be lost and what is inside of us, our spirit, our being, our soul – that is important. We live in a time of capitalism, consumerism and you realize when you lose everything how little of it you truly need."
American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. wearing the replica Olympic medals that IOC President Thomas Bach presented to him after he lost the originals during the wildfires in Los Angeles that destroyed his home earlier this year.
Hall, who grew up in Arizona, won back-to-back gold medals in the men's 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens) Olympics. He also won three golds as a member of Team USA's relay teams in 1996 (Atlanta). He also won three silvers and two bronzes during his Olympic career, but lost them all in the wildfires.
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"It was worse than any apocalypse movie you've ever seen and 1,000 times worse," Hall told the Sydney Morning Herald of the fires earlier this year.
During the event in Switzerland, Hall Jr. showed two of his gold medals that had been fused together after melting in the fire.
American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. holds an original gold medal from Atlanta 1996 that melted during the wildfires in Los Angeles that destroyed his home earlier this year and the replica gold medal that was presented to him during a ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland, May 5, 2025.
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gary Hall Jr.'s Olympic medals replaced after Los Angeles wildfires
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