Latest news with #GaryHallJr.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Rudy Gobert hammers it home
Here is what's left of Gary Hall Jr.'s home in Pacific Palisades in aftermath of LA wildfires Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr. lost his home and everything in it during the January wildfires that cost 30 lives and caused more than $250 billion in damage.
Independent Singapore
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Gary Hall Jr. gets Olympic medals replaced after losing all 10 in Los Angeles fire
Olympic swimming legend Gary Hall Jr. was given 10 Olympic replica medals after his original ones were destroyed in the Los Angeles fire earlier this year. The devastating fire swept through his home, resulting in the loss of his hard-earned memorabilia from his sporting years. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach, personally presented the replica medals to the athlete at a special ceremony at the IOC headquarters. This gesture was deemed a heartfelt recognition of Hall's achievements as he won three Olympic Games– Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004 –where he earned the medals in individual and relay events. Hall expressed his gratitude and said in his speech, ' Thank you for the medals… Never before have 10 Olympic medals been replaced. Probably because no one has lost 10 medals before. I will do a better job at taking care of these.' The athlete added, ' The realisation through this process that outweighs any sense of loss is this word of solidarity and what it means, which cannot be taken away.' Furthermore, Bach admitted, 'When we were reading your tragic story of losing your house and all your possessions and all your worldly properties, this was going straight to our heart.' 'What matters most is the Olympic spirit that lives on in you, Gary — a spirit that no fire can destroy,' The IOC President added as he opened the event. Hall's unforgettable experience The 50-year-old American Olympic, Gary Hall Jr, needed to leave his Olympic medals behind when the wildfire forced him to evacuate his home in Pacific Palisades. The fire moved rampantly through the Los Angeles area, and he did not have enough time to save everything. Losing those precious medals was heartbreaking for the athlete, and receiving replica medals from the IOC is a meaningful and emotional initiative for him. In an interview, Hall shared, 'I'm emotional. It's hard for me to put words together at this moment, but I want to start by expressing my deepest gratitude. I brought one of the melted medals with me. This was originally two gold medals: one from Atlanta and one from Athens. They fused together in the fire. In its place now is this new one… and it already has some character.' 'What I've come to realise through this experience is that the value of friendship far outweighs the value of things. Character can't be burned; it can't be lost. What matters is what's inside of us — our spirit. In a world so focused on consumerism, losing everything makes you realise just how little you really need. What got me through this time was the overwhelming support from the aquatics community. I count myself very rich in friends. Thank you.'
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gary Hall Jr. receives new Olympic medals to replace the 10 he lost in Palisades fire
Former U.S. swimmer Gary Hall Jr. wears the replica Olympic medals he received at a ceremony May 5 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He won the originals from 1996-2004 but lost them this year in the Palisades fire. (Denis Balibouse / pool /AFP via Getty Images) Gary Hall Jr. won 10 Olympic medals with the U.S. swimming team from 1996-2004, then lost them all in January when the house he was renting in the Pacific Palisades went up in flames. He now has all five golds, all three silvers and both bronzes back in his possession again, after the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach presented him with replicas Monday during a ceremony at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. Advertisement In a phone interview with The Times, Hall admitted he got "emotional" at the ceremony over what he considers to be a tremendous gesture by one of the largest governing bodies in sports. 'Just the appreciation — 'one of our own' was kind of the sense that I was embraced with," Hall said. "When tough times happen, you find out who your friends are. And to see this response from the highest level of sport, it makes you feel special. It makes you feel supported, which is so needed at this time. And with the rebuilding process and dealing with incredible loss, that value is tremendous. Read more: Gary Hall Jr. won 10 Olympic medals in the water. Then he lost them in the Palisades fire "... The measurement of our value is how much do we help others, and to be on the receiving end of help and support is both humbling and inspiring.' Advertisement Hall kept the medals in a fireproof safe — "I've got to check the warranty on that because it definitely was not fireproof," he joked — in his bedroom closet, bringing them out to help inspire children and aspiring athletes during appearances and speaking engagements. When massive wildfires struck the area Jan. 7, Hall was unable to retrieve the medals before fleeing to safety at his sister's house in Encinitas. Weeks later, he returned to the site where his house had stood and found the safe amid the rubble. Hall was able to open it but was "disappointed" at what he found inside. "It was basically a pool of melted metal — you know, some combination of watches and jewelry and cuff links and Olympic medals inside that safe," Hall said. "It was all kind of pooled together in one big blob. I was able to pry out, like, these half-medals that kind of melted together. I offered it to President Thomas Bach, and he politely declined and told me that I should keep that one. It's a unique Olympic medal, got a little character." Gary Hall Jr. holds up a blob of melted metal that used to be one or more of his Olympic medals, next to one of the replacement medals he received from the IOC on Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Denis Balibouse / pool / AFP via Getty Images) He added: "There was another medal, a silver, that was kind of discernible, you could tell it was an Olympic medal. I may donate that one to the Olympic Museum' in Lausanne. Advertisement In addition to all of his possessions, the fire also cost Hall his swim-lessons business, Sea Monkeys Swimming, which he ran out of the pool at his home. He is working to get a sports-betting platform for swimming up and running and plans to use those funds to relaunch his business — first either in Florida, where he's been staying for the last couple of months, or San Diego County and then eventually back in the Palisades. Read more: Photos: Before and after cleanup for the Los Angeles-area wildfires 'I think everybody who lived in that area loved that area. It just isn't there anymore," Hall said. "So this is the recovery process and it's going to take time. This business that I had is dependent on families and kids being in the area. Those that I know and have spoken too, even those whose houses didn't burn down, a lot of them are moving out because it's just such a toxic environment. I love L.A. and it's dire circumstance that's forced me out, so it's not goodbye.' One "silver lining" to the situation, Hall said, is that his 17-year-old son Charlie got to be with him when he received his new medals "because he didn't get to see the first ones being won." Advertisement "Being able to share this experience with him means the world to me," Hall said. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
RNZ News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Olympic champion Gary Hall Jr. receives replicas of 10 medals lost in LA fires
US swimmer Gary Hall Jr. holds one of the original medals as he is presented with repilicas of his Olympic medals by IOC President Thomas Bach during a handover ceremony after the originals were destroyed with his house in the Los Angeles wildfires in 2025. Photo: AFP American multiple Olympic swimming champion Gary Hall Jr. received replicas of his 10 Olympic medals on Monday after the originals were destroyed during the Los Angeles wildfires in January. The medals were presented to him by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach during a ceremony at the Games ruling body's headquarters in Lausanne. "Thank you for the medals," Hall Jr. said in a brief speech. "Never before have 10 Olympic medals been replaced. Probably because no one has lost 10 medals before. I will do a better job at taking care of these. "The realisation through this process that outweighs any sense of loss is this word of solidarity and what it means which cannot be taken away." Hall represented the United States at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning five gold, three silver and two bronze medals in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. The 50-year-old was forced to leave the medals behind at his Pacific Palisades home during the fires which tore through the Los Angeles area. "When we were reading your tragic story of losing your house and all your possessions and all your worldly properties, this was going straight to our heart," Bach said. The wildfires killed at least 29 people and destroyed large sections of the Altadena and Pacific Palisades neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, displacing tens of thousands of people. It is estimated to be the most expensive natural disaster in US history. Los Angeles will host the next summer Olympics in 2028. -Reuters
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
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. Advertisement '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 "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. Advertisement "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 Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff. Support local journalism: Subscribe to today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gary Hall Jr.'s Olympic medals replaced after Los Angeles wildfires
