Olympic champion Gary Hall Jr. was among the thousands of California residents displaced by wildfires in the Los Angeles area this week, and like many others, he lost all of his priceless possessions – including all ten of his Olympic medals.

However, Hall is grateful that he escaped with his life.

Gary Hall Jr. listens to the national anthem after receiving the gold medal for the men’s 50-meter freestyle swimming in the main pool of the Olympic Sports Complex Aquatic Center in Athens on August 20, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. Greece. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

In an interview with The Sydney Morning HeraldHall recalled the moment he first saw a “cloud of smoke” coming from his backyard. He was on the phone with his daughter when the disaster occurred.

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“I saw the flames breaking out and houses starting to explode. There were explosions. “I didn’t have much time,” he recalled in the interview. “There was complete traffic jam on Sunset Boulevard. People abandoned their cars and ran for their lives. The police ordered them to do that. My friend was trapped in her car surrounded by smoke.”

The forest fires spread quickly. Hall only had time to pack the essentials – his dog and a few personal items.

The house he was renting in Pacific Palisades was burned down and with it all of his Olympic medals, including five gold, three silver and two bronze. He was thinking about her at the moment, but the gravity of the situation didn’t allow him to take her.

The sun rises after the Palisades Fire devastated a neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

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“I was thinking about the medals. I didn’t have time to get them,” Hall told the outlet. “Everyone wants to know if the medals were burned? Yes, everything burned. It’s something I can live without. I guess it’s all just stuff. It will take hard work to start over. What can be done?”

Hall described the scene as “worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen, and a thousand times worse.” Hall not only lost his medals, but also his home, where he ran a business teaching children to swim, has now completely disappeared.

“It will bring up a range of emotions, especially when it comes time to go back to where the house stood. I’ll rummage through the ashes and see if the medals have melted together. Will I find something worth saving? Probably not.” . I don’t know.”

Gary Hall Jr. presents his gold medal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle swimming on August 20, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics in the main pool of the Olympic Sports Complex Aquatic Center in Athens, Greece. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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Thousands of California residents were evacuated as fierce wildfires fueled by strong Santa Ana winds swept through Southern California this week. At least five people died as fires continued to burn more than 27,000 hectares on Thursday.

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