(Reuters) – American former swimmer Gary Hall Jr. is set to receive replicas of the 10 Olympic medals he lost in the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed his home, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has said.
Hall represented the United States at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning five gold, three silver and two bronze medals in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens.
The 50-year-old was forced to leave the medals behind at his Pacific Palisades home during the fires.
“I’m too proud to ask for help, but my worldly possessions right now are the clothes that I was wearing and a toothbrush that I bought yesterday,” Hall told the Los Angeles Times.
“My 10 Olympic medals, everything else I owned and my home and my business were lost.”
Bach said the IOC was in “full solidarity” with the people of Los Angeles.
“Currently the full focus must be on the fight against the fires and the protection of the people and property,” Bach said.
“We have also learned that a great Olympian, Gary Hall Jr, has lost his medals in the fire. The IOC will provide him with replicas.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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