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Kicker: Refined through fire

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WORLD Radio - Kicker: Refined through fire

An Olympian reclaims his medals that were destroyed in the California wildfires


American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. holds an original medal that melted during the wildfires in Los Angeles. Associated Press / Photo by Denis Balibouse/Keystone / Reuters Pool

NICK EICHER, HOST: Swimmer Gary Hall Jr. was no stranger to the Olympic medal podium. He’d just never received so many in a single day. Until this week.

The International Olympic Committee presented replacements at a ceremony.

GARY HALL JR: Never before have 10 Olympic medals been replaced, probably because nobody's lost 10 medals before. I'll do a better job of taking care of these.

Oh, come on, you can’t be blamed for this. Hall lost his medals in the California wildfires back in January. He brought two he was able to recover: But they were fused together from the heat.

Hall said the fires have taught him what really matters(—friendship and character).

HALL: The value of friends outweighs the value of objects, things. And character cannot be taken away. It cannot be burned. It cannot be lost.''

Lessons from the deep end—greater than gold.

It’s The World and Everything in It.


WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.

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