Olympic swimmer presented replacement medals following devasting loss

A man and a woman from Malibu visited the burning remains of her house after Palisades fire burned house dishes along the Pacific coast road.

LAUSANA, Switzerland – The Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr. recently received the replicas of medals of the International Olympic Committee to replace the ten he lost during the catastrophic Forest Fires in California in January.

Hall, three times Olympic, was one of the thousands in the Los Angeles Metro area, its homes destroyed by flames driven by the wind that devastated the neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.

Palisades’ fire was one of the more than a destructive forest fire boxes that exploded, damaging or destroying more than 18,000 structures and claiming the lives of at least 30 people.

Hall’s return to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland was bittersweet, with the gold medals that were damaged in the fire on display.

“I Cannot Thank The Olympic Movement Enough for Their Support Through This Very Difficul Time. Their Achieves Through This Process That Outweight The Sense of Loss and That Is This Word of Solidarity and What It Means, and Objects Outweights, And Outweights, And outweights, and Outawaeses, and outweights, and outweights, and outweights, and outweights, and bean friends, and charcs beany of friends, and charcs Beany of Friends, and outpesos, and far, you cannot burn, you cannot lose, you can not lose, what there can be, you can not lose, what can be burn Our soul is important.

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The production of the replicas was not the first time that the IOC has prepared replacement medals: it is known that the committee provides them in strict circumstances, such as when they are lost in a natural disaster.

The president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, said he could not remember having replaced as many medals as Hall lost from the summer games in Atlanta in 1996, the Sydney 2000 games and the 2004 Athens games.

“Realmente apreciamos tu presencia aquí. No puedo decirte cuánto te admiramos, no solo por las medallas, sino porque estábamos leyendo tu trágica historia de perder tu casa, tus posesiones y todo tu Hur Hurdly, Thighte Toestly, esto, esto, esto, esto, tan bien, así que, tan, tan hométalo, tan, cuando aprendemos de otra manera, de lo que es verdadero de lo verdadero de lo verdadero de lo verdadero de lo verdadero de lo True.

After a small presentation of medals, Hall signed the Olympic wall, joining other elite athletes that have left their mark on the history of sports.

Pacific Palisades, California – January 13: An aerial view of the houses destroyed in the fire of Palisades, since forest fires cause damage and losses in the Los Angeles region on January 13, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. Multiple forest fires fed by intense winds of Santa Ana continue to burning throughout the Los Angeles County, with some containment. According to reports, 24 people have died with more than 180,000 people under the order of evacuation or warning. More than 12,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged, while more than 35,000 acres have burned. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty images)

(Getty images)

Firefighters fighting the mortal forest fires of California reach a critical milestone on the road to recovery

Looking towards the future, Hall is full of anticipation for the 2028 Olympic Games, which will be a hero in Los Angeles.

After attending the 1984 games in the same city as a child, Hall accredited that experience as a crucial moment on his Atlético trip.

“I was 10 years old when it was the host of the 1984 Olympic Games, and I was old enough to see […] What the Olympic Games were, the scale of the same, the importance, the importance of world internship at the 1984 Olympic Games. This inspired me more than any genetic heritage or family tradition that would drive me, “Hall said.

The American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. (L) is next to the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach (R), a ceremony of delivery of the replicas of his Olympic Medals of Atlanta 1996 after the originals were destroyed with his house in the forest fires of Los Angeles at the beginning of this year, 2025.

(Photo of Denis Balibouse/Pool/AFP through Getty Images/Getty Images)