Former U.S. Olympian Gary Hall Jr. won 10 Olympic medals and six world championship medals in his swimming career. He believes he’s lost them all in the Palisades wildfire, he said to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse,” he said to the Australian news outlet.
“I thought I had more time,” Hall said. “I saw the fire charging down the hill and knew that I had to get out of there. I opened up the back of my SUV, I loaded a painting, one other object.
“By the time I was going back in from that run, hot embers were raining down from the sky. I knew at that point that I just didn’t have much time. I could see the embers hitting the roofs of the houses around me and made that decision: it’s time to go.
“The medals were in a closet in my bedroom, 70 feet away, and I didn’t have time to go get them. From the time that I saw the first plume of smoke at the top of the hill … I had about three minutes between then and when it came charging towards me.
“It wasn’t easy to leave that behind. I worked a lifetime to achieve that and the memories remain but the souvenir is gone.”
Even when he had driven to the bottom of the hill that he lives on, Hall said he quickly realized he still wasn’t in a safe area. He described people standing around filming the fires on the hills, “unaware of the impending danger.”
He made his way to the Palisades Village, arriving there before the fire did, but it quickly turned into chaos.
“I was one of the first hill evacuees to make it into the village,” Hall said. “There was one other car of a person that had fled in the parking lot, surrounded by five pre-schools, elementary schools, kindergartens and schools still in session and you could see it went from an idyllic, peaceful Palisades village, descending into mayhem and panic.
“There were people screaming, cars driving up on the sidewalk. Imagine the desperation of a parent trying to get to their child in time to get them from the school and to safety.
“So you have cars blowing through stop signs, red lights, crashes happening and people running in every direction.”
Hall, known for his speed and showmanship, represented the US in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He won 10 Olympic medals, including five gold medals. He also won three gold and three silver world championship medals.
Hall was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1999. He is the son of Gary Hall Sr., who won medals at three Olympic Games.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the younger Hall, which says, “Gary Jr. lost his home and his livelihood in the devastating Palisades Fire on January 7th.
“Gary saw flames out his window while he was at home before collecting his dog, Puddles, his insulin, a painting of his grandfather, and a religious wooden piece his daughter Gigi gave him and drove towards the ocean as quickly as possible.
“He was forced to leave behind everything else he owned, such as irreplaceable family heirlooms, photos, and more. He has also most likely lost his ten Olympic medals, but nothing can take away his spirit that won those medals.”
