Former US competitive swimmer Gary Hall Jr. said he was "touched" and "appreciative" to learn that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would be sending him replicas to replace the 10 Olympic medals he lost in the L.A. wildfires.
The 50-year-old won five gold, three silver, and two bronze Olympic medals across the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games, the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, and the 2004 Games in Athens.
Hall Jr.'s home was burned to the ground in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, one of several in a series of active wildfires in southern California that have ravaged over 40,000 acres as a result of dry vegetation and powerful wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour.
IOC President Thomas Bach issued a statement after learning the former Olympian's medals were part of the countless valuables he lost in the fire as they consumed his home.
It read:
"We are in full solidarity with the citizens of Los Angeles and full of admiration for the tireless work of the firefighters and the security forces."
"Currently the full focus must be on the fight against the fires and the protection of the people and property."
"We have also learned that a great Olympian, Gary Hall Jr., has lost his medals in the fire. The IOC will provide him with replicas."
A series of emojis perfectly articulated what other social media users tried to express in response to the IOC's message.
Hall Jr. was among thousands of L.A. residents who managed to flee from the encroaching blazes after a mandatory evacuation was instituted. With time running out, Hall Jr. grabbed what he could, including his dog Puddles and his lifeline of insulin.
The former world record-holder in two relay events was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1999.
Despite his health setback, the four-time Olympic medalist continued competing in the 2000 and 2004 Games to win an additional six medals since his diagnosis.
Last week, Hall Jr. arrived safely at his sister's home in San Diego, a two-and-a-half-hour drive south of LA.
In an interview, he recalled the horrific ordeal of evacuating.
"It was an exodus. I saw a plume of smoke that doubled in width within a minute at the top of the hill that I live on. I live on a street called Lachman Lane, and I saw houses start to catch fire and knew that it was time to go."
He continued:
"I didn't have much time. I opened up the back of my SUV and started loading it. After my first trip, I started feeling the embers raining down on me and wasn't going to stick around to find out how much time I had before my house went up."
"I grabbed my dog and my insulin. I have Type 1 diabetes and need that to live. And jumped in the car and abandoned my home, my Olympic medals and everything of sentimental value that I possess."
Hall Jr. expressed gratitude for the IOC replacing his medals, donations he received through GoFundMe to help him rebuild, and outreach from his community where he has a swim school for children called Sea Monkeys.
He said:
"Knowing that this community has been displaced and that those kids are never going to go to their school again."
"It's been ... to the ground, the restaurants, the barbershops, the people that they know and love and community, all of it."
"It makes me the most sad that I'll never probably see some of those families again."
"I'm touched by the outpouring of support,” Hall Jr. told People magazine.
“While that means a lot to me, it’s, you know, the high school friend that I haven't seen in 20 years who’s made a $100 donation to my GoFundMe campaign and things like that, to me, that are as valuable as the International Olympic Committee stepping up and saying that they'll replace the medals.”
"I am so appreciative, but the medals are just one thing. A medal replacement can't provide the necessities of life, like rent and stuff like that. But yeah, I just am so grateful to everybody that's reached out."
Hall Jr. confirmed that his ex-wife and kids who live further up the coast out of range from the wildfires are safe. He also said his girlfriend, who also sadly lost her home in the Palisades fire, was safe.
"It's overwhelming, the sense of loss,” he said, adding:
“But what has offset that is an overwhelming outpouring of support and love. And I really think that's what's needed most at this time for families to begin to recover, is that sense that they are loved."
As of Monday, 24 people were killed and roughly 12,000 homes and other structures were destroyed in the L.A. wildfires, the most destructive in L.A. history.
At Tuesday's news
briefing, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said about 88,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders and roughly 84,800 more are under evacuation warnings in areas of high risk for fire danger.
