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Gary Hall Jr.’s Olympic medals were destroyed in Los Angeles fires. On Monday, he was awarded 10 replica medals in the IOC headquarters to replace those he lost.
Like most of Hall’s belongings, the original medals burned four months ago in his Pacific Palisades home.
“I want to do a better job of taking care of these,” Hall said jokingly.
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American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. Has an original medal from Atlanta 1996 that melted during the Los Angeles fire, which destroyed his home while holding a replica medal presented to him in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday, May 5, 2025. (Denis Balibouse/Keystone/Reuters Pool via AP)
The 50-year-old received a new set of five gold medals, three silver and two bronze medals, which he served swimming to the United States.
IOC President Thomas Bach said he presented Hall Jr. With 10 medals the same day was a “unique ceremony.”
“I don’t think it happened ever before, and I hope it never has to happen again,” Bach told Hall. “We also hope to give you a moment of relief and joy that will help you now in the further process of getting over what you had to go through with this tragedy.”
Hall brought to the ceremony a gold medal, which he found deformed in his home in the wake of the fire.
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American swimmers Anthony Ervin, Left, and Gary Hall Jr., Center, which tied gold in men’s 50 m freestyle, stands with Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband, who won the bronze medal, September 22, 2000, during the summer -ol in Sydney. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)
Hall won gold in 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in 4x100m Freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley baton and took two silver medals home in 50m freestyle and 100 m freestyle in the same games.
Phoenix, Arizona, natives won two more gold medals in the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 in the 50m Freestyle and the 4x100m Medley relay, while also collecting a silver and bronze medal in Australia.
In the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, Hall Jr. its last two medals. A gold medal in 50 m freestyle and a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. Has a medal that melted under the fire while carrying replica olympic medals presented to him during a ceremony at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday 5 May 2025. (Denis Balibouse/Keystone/Reuters Pool via AP)
“Having friends and family, I’m a very lucky man,” Hall said. “The support I was offered from the athletic community has bent me through the darkest nights.”
“That’s what this (Olympic) family is all about – rivals and friends. I’m just so valued to them all. I can’t thank the Olympic movement enough for their support through this very difficult time.”
