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An Olympic Champion’s Journey With Type 1 Diabetes and Hope for a Cure
This week, the Diabetes Research Connection Team (DRC) was excited to host American Olympic Swimmer and Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Advocate, Gary Hall Jr. The DRC team shared our approach and what we’ve been working on with Gary and he shared more of his incredible story.
Hall’s grandfather, Charles Keating Jr., won American national titles in the 1940s. His father, Gary Sr., competed in three Olympic Games, winning one gold medal, two silver and a bronze.
When a T1D Diagnosis Threatened to Change Everything
Gary Hall Jr was diagnosed with T1D at the age of 25 and described an initial desire to give up on his Olympic dreams and move to Costa Rica, but fortunately, this wasn’t the end of his inspirational journey.
“When I was diagnosed a long time ago, I was told that I couldn’t swim in the Olympics, that it was impossible, and I became the first person to compete and medal in the Olympic Games with type one diabetes. And I’ve used that platform to let kids and newly diagnosed families know that they can do the impossible if they take care of their disease and manage it in a way that and they can go out and do whatever they choose to pursue.”
– Gary Hall Jr.
Turning an Olympic Platform Into Advocacy for the T1D Community
Because of his inspirational story and gained notoriety, Hall began to support the T1D community by listing his phone number on the website of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (Now Breakthrough T1D) and fielded calls from distraught families who had just received a diagnosis and needed support.
“It’s been a tremendous honor, as much as representing the United States on an international level, to bring that message of hope to newly diagnosed families.” Says Hall.
What Matters Most in an Emergency
In a tragic twist of events, Hall lost his home in the January 2025 Pacific Palisades wildfire. With only minutes to evacuate, Hall recalls grabbing only what was most important: “I took my insulin and my dog.”
After the fire cleared, he returned to the site where his home used to stand, but was disappointed to find only rubble and the melted remains of his 10 Olympic medals.
Restoring What Was Lost
After hearing about this loss, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach presented Hall with replicas in an emotional ceremony at the Olympic House in May 2025. He called this gesture a much-needed ray of sunshine at a dark time.
Looking Ahead to a Future Without Type 1 Diabetes
Today, Hall continues to support the T1D research community and inspire young people who may have begun to doubt themselves and their future when they received their diagnosis. What would a cure for T1D mean to Gary Hall Jr? “When I was diagnosed, I embraced this hope that I would see a cure for this disease, and it’s been a long road of research to get us to this point where I now, today, believe that’s a possibility.”
Gary Hall Jr.’s journey is a powerful reminder of why Diabetes Research Connection exists. His story reflects both the extraordinary resilience of the T1D community and the urgent need to accelerate progress toward a cure. At DRC, we are committed to funding early-career scientists whose innovative research has the potential to transform lives, so that future generations of athletes, students, families, and dreamers will not have to prove what is possible despite diabetes, but can live fully without it. Inspired by advocates like Gary, we remain focused on turning hope into action and possibility into progress.
More ways to stay involved
Be sure to follow Diabetes Research Connection on social media to hear more inspiring stories from the type 1 diabetes community and learn how research is shaping a future beyond T1D.
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