UP IN SMOKE

Champion Swimmer Reveals He Lost Olympic Medals and Home in L.A. Fire

“Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff,” Gary Hall Jr. said.

Three-time Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr. revealed that he lost his home and medals in the fires currently ravaging Los Angeles. “It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen, and 1,000 times worse,“ he said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday. “It’s mayhem in Los Angeles. We were surrounded by flames.” The American added that he was only able to grab his dog and a few items while fleeing his house. “I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them,” he 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?” Hall Jr. has 10 medals--five gold, three silver and two bronze medals from three Olympic appearances. He swam for the U.S. in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. His sister set up a GoFundMe to support Hall Jr., which has already raised $36,000. The Olympian said he’d return to the place where his house stood and see if the medals melted together. “Will I be able to find anything worth saving?” he said. “Probably not. I don’t know.”