United States Olympic great Gary Hall Jr. was one of the survivors of the wildfires engulfing several swaths of Los Angeles, including his house, and 10 Olympic medals.
Hall earned these medals — five gold, three silver, and two bronze — over the course of three Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004).
“It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1000 times worse,” Hall told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The home Hall was renting was in Pacific Palisades, California. Its basement, where he used to run a business, was destroyed by fire, including the Olympic medals.
“It’s mayhem in Los Angeles. We were surrounded by flames. The embers were raining down on me as I jumped into my car,” Hall said. “I had time to grab my dog and just a couple of personal items. It’s just every person for themselves.”
The fire broke out so quickly that the 50-year-old had to evacuate without his memorabilia.
“I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them,” Hall Jr said. “Everyone wants to know did the medals burn? Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff. It’ll take some hard work to start over. What can you do?”
The pool where he teaches Olympic aspirants was also destroyed.
Talking about the situation, he said there was a complete logjam nearby Sunset Boulevard, and people ran for safety, abandoning their cars.
He is currently staying with his family in San Diego. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support him.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee was unaware of his situation and is soon to reach out to him.