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For his father, also an Olympian, see Gary Hall,
Sr.
Gary
Hall, Jr.
 |
| Personal
information |
| Full name |
Gary Wayne Hall, Jr. |
| Nationality |
 United States |
| Stroke(s) |
Freestyle |
| Club |
The Race Club |
| Date of birth |
September 26, 1974 (1974-09-26)
(age 35) |
| Place of birth |
Cincinnati,
Ohio |
| Height |
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
|
|
Gary Wayne Hall, Jr. (born September 26, 1974
in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American swimmer who
competed in the 1996, 2000,
and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic
medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze).
Hall is well known for his "pro-wrestling like" antics before a
competition; frequently strutting onto the pool deck in boxing
shorts and robe, shadow boxing and flexing for the audience.
Family
His father Gary
Hall, Sr. also competed in three Olympics as a swimmer (1968,
1972 and 1976). His maternal uncle Charles Keating III swam in the
1976 Olympics, and his maternal grandfather Charles Keating
Jr., well known for his conviction in the savings and loan scandal of
1989, was a national swimming champion in the 1940s. Gary, Jr. has
shared a very close relationship with his grandfather and is proud
to be seen with him and is quick to introduce him to friends.
Career
1996 Atlanta
Games
In his first Olympics at the age of 21 in
Atlanta, Hall had only 6 years of swimming experience yet he
already had a well-known rivalry with Russia's Alexander Popov. Hall and his
teammates dominated the relay events, but Popov continued to beat
Hall in the individual events. The rivalry grew more bitter than
ever. In an interview with the media, Popov said that Hall was
incapable of beating him because he "comes from a family of
losers." Hall responded by coming to his next event in leather
motorcycle pants and executing his usual shadow boxing and flexing
routine. Eventually, Hall would be defeated in the individual 100 m
freestyle and 50 m freestyle by Popov.
Hall won two individual silvers and two team relay golds at the
games including helping set the world record in both the 400 m freestyle
and medley
relays.
1996-2000
In 1998, Hall was suspended by FINA for marijuana use.[1]
In 1999, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, commonly
referred to as childhood or juvenile diabetes. Upon his diagnosis,
Hall struggled with the possibilities and the effects he knew the
medical condition would have on his life. Hall took a short hiatus
from swimming, but returned in time to compete in the 2000 U.S.
Olympic Trials. There he won the 50 m freestyle and placed second in the
100 m freestyle. His 50 m time, at 21.76
seconds set a new American record, beating the ten-year old record
set by Tom Jager.
2000 Sydney
Games
Hall's success continued in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He won the
gold medal in the individual 50 m freestyle, tying with his fellow
American Anthony
Ervin, and won the gold and silver in the team relays. He also
won the bronze in the individual 100 meter freestyle race.
Prior to the 4x100 m freestyle relay, Hall posted on his blog:
"My biased opinion says that we will smash them like guitars.
Historically the U.S. has always risen to the occasion. But the
logic in that remote area of my brain says it won't be so easy for
the United States to dominate the waters this time". Hall swam last
in the team against Australian Ian Thorpe. Thorpe had a better start and
came up a body length in front of Hall. Hall managed a lead but
Thorpe fought back, inflicting America's first ever Olympic defeat
in the event. The Australian team famously responded to Hall's
remarks after the race by playing air guitar on the pool deck. Hall recalled
the race saying “I don’t even know how to play the guitar...I
consider it the best relay race I’ve ever been part of. I doff my
cap to the great Ian Thorpe. He swum better than I did.”
2004 Athens
Games
At the 2004 Summer Olympics Hall again
won the gold medal in 50 m Freestyle. At 29, Hall became the
oldest American Male Olympic swimmer since 1924 when Duke Kahanamoku
competed. Despite having swum the fastest 50 in the year leading up
to the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was
regarded as a long shot to medal in the 50 m Freestyle. He also won
a bronze medal for competing in the preliminary heat of the 4x100
meter freestyle relay.
2008 Olympic
Trials
Hall failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Team after finishing
4th in the 50 Meter Finals at the US Olympic Swimming Trials on
July 5, 2008.
The Race
Club
The Race Club is a swimming club founded by Gary Hall, Jr. and
his father, Gary Hall, Sr. The club is designed to serve as a
training group for some of the world's elite swimmers. To be able
to train with the Race Club, one must either have been ranked in
the top 20 in the world the past 3 calendar years or top 3 in their
nation in the past year. The Race Club includes such well known
swimmers as Roland Mark Schoeman, Mark
Foster, Ryk
Neethling, Ricky Busquet and Therese Alshammar. They are coached
by University of
California, Berkeley coach Mike Bottom, who was the coach of Hall and
Anthony Ervin before the 2000 Sydney games. The Race Club also
offers various swimming camps and clinics year round for young
swimmers at their Islamorada, Florida based training center.
Keys Life
In the summer of 2006, Hall's sister, Bebe Hall, was attacked by
a Blacktip reef shark near Islamorada while she and Gary were spearfishing, an
attack for which his sister needed 19 stitches.[2] Hall
repeatedly punched the shark and his sister shot a spear into it,
after which the shark swam off.
Personality
Hall has long been one of competitive swimming's most colorful
personalities. He often shadow-boxes before a race and is known for
wearing a boxing robe in lieu of the usual warm-ups. His
eccentricity has won him a great deal of fans, but what some
perceive to be "showboating" has drawn substantial criticism. He is
also an outspoken critic of performance enhancing drug use in
swimming, and is one of the few prominent swimmers willing to
publicly question the legitimacy of suspected individual
accomplishments. In 2008, he compared International Swimming Hall
of Fame inductee Amy
Van Dyken to disgraced track & field athlete Marion Jones, noting
they were both involved with the Bay
Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) steroid scandal.[1]
Additional
honors
- Former American record holder in the 50 meter freestyle.
- Humanitarian Award winner at 2004 Golden Goggle Awards.
References
External
links
| Olympic
Champions in Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
|
1964: USA (Clark, Austin, Ilman, Schollander) | 1968: USA (Zorn, Rerych, Spitz, Walsh) | 1972: USA (Edgar, Murphy, Heidenreich, Spitz) | 1984: USA (Cavanaugh, Heath, Biondi, Gaines) | 1988: USA (Jacobs, Dalbey, Jager, Biondi) | 1992: USA (Hudepohl, Biondi, Jager, Olsen) | 1996: USA (Olsen, Davis, Schumacher, Hall, Jr.) | 2000: Australia (Klim, Fydler, Callus, Thorpe) | 2004: South Africa (Schoeman, Ferns, Townsend, Neethling) | 2008: USA (Phelps, Weber-Gale, Jones, Lezak)
|
|
| Olympic
Champions in Men's 4×100 m Medley Relay |
|
1960 USA (McKinney, Hait, Larson, Farrell)
| 1964
USA (Mann, Craig, Schmidt, Clark) | 1968 USA (Hickcox, McKenzie, Russell, Walsh) | 1972 USA (Stamm, Bruce, Spitz, Heidenreich) | 1976 USA (Naber, Hencken, Vogel, Montgomery) | 1980 Australia (Kerry, Evans, Tonelli, Brooks) | 1984 USA (Carey, Lundquist, Morales, Gaines) |
1988 USA (Berkoff, Schroeder,
Biondi, Jacobs) | 1992 USA (Rouse, Diebel, Morales, Olsen) | 1996 USA (Rouse, Linn, Henderson, Hall, Jr.) | 2000 USA (Krayzelburg, Moses, Crocker, Hall, Jr.) | 2004 USA (Peirsol, Hansen, Crocker, Lezak) | 2008 USA (Peirsol, Hansen, Phelps, Lezak)
|
|
|
Pan American Champions
in Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
|
1967: United States (Walsh, Fitzmaurice, Spitz, Schollander) • 1971:
United
States (Edgar, Genter, Heidenreich, Heckl) •
1975: United States (Babashoff, Ruby,
Grattan, Abbott) • 1979: United
States (Gaines, Babashoff, Newton, McCagg) •
1983: United States (Leamy, Gribble, Cavanaugh, Gaines) •
1987: United States (Born, McCadam,
Robinson, Dudley) • 1991: Brazil (Ferreira, Nascimento, Rebolal, Borges) •
1995: United States (Hall, Jager, Davis, Olsen) • 1999: Brazil (Scherer,
Quintaes, Cordeiro, Borges) •
2003: Brazil (Jayme, Borges, Scherer, Souza) • 2007:
Brazil (Silva, Deboni, Oliveira, Cielo)
|
|
|
Pan Pacific Champions in
Men's 4×100 m Freestyle Relay |
|
1985: USA (McCadam, Heath, Wallace, Biondi) •
1987: USA (Jacobs, Oppel, Dalbey, Biondi) •
1989: USA (Lang, Olsen, Gjertsen, Jager) • 1991: USA (Jordan, Jager, Olsen, Biondi) • 1993: USA (Hudepohl,
Pepper, Fox, Olsen) • 1995: USA (Fox, Hudepohl, Olsen, Hall) • 1997: USA (Tucker, Schumacher, Olsen, Walker) • 1999:
AUS (Klim, English, Fydler, Thorpe) •
2002: AUS (Callus, Pearson, Hackett, Thorpe) • 2006: USA (Phelps, Walker, Jones, Lezak)
|
|
|
Pan Pacific Champions in
Men's 4×100 m Medley Relay |
|
1985: USA (Carey, Moffet, Morales, Biondi) • 1987: USA (Veatch, Schroeder,
Morales, Biondi) •
1989: USA (Rouse, Korhammer, Morales, Biondi) • 1991: USA (Rouse, Barrowman, Henderson, Biondi) •
1993: USA (Rouse, Van Neerden, Henderson, Olsen) • 1995:
USA (Rouse, Wunderlich, Henderson, Hall) • 1997: USA (Krayzelburg, Grote, Dusing, Walker) • 1999:
USA (Krayzelburg, Grote, Wales, Walker) • 2002:
USA (Peirsol, Hansen, Phelps, Lezak) • 2006: USA (Peirsol, Hansen, Crocker, Lezak)
|
|
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