Mystery Glimpse: First US Winter Olympic Medalist Was A Ski Jumper
Only Two Guesses, One Was Correct.
Apparently, our last Mystery Glimpse of the season was fairly esoteric. We salute reader Patricia Gottshalk for identifying Anders Olsen Haugen, the US Ski Team member who was the first American to win a Winter Olympics medal. He won medals in the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix and the 1928 games in St. Moritz. In fact, he remains the only American to ever win an Olympic medal in ski jumping. But there is much more to Anders’s story.
It seems that he originally came in fourth in the 1924 Olympics. The third place went to a Norwegian, Thorleif Haug, who had already won a gold and a silver. However, in 1974, Norway held a 50th anniversary of the games. A ski history buff had scrutinized the scores from those long ago games and determined there was an arithmetic error in adding the results. Anders had actually won the Bronze by several hundredths of a point. So, at 83 years old, Anders Olsen Haugen, a long-retired brick layer, was awarded the medal by Haug’s daughter at a special ceremony sanctioned by the IOC.
Here’s a snapshot of Anders and Haug’s daughter. Quite a story, eh?
And with that, we are pausing our Mystery Glimpse series for the non-snow season. This feature could not have been possible without the incredible cooperation of several ski museums across the country. Each museum mentioned below contributed more than one photo from their archives. We thank them for their support and willingness to participate.
Ski museums are quite precious to us. They are typically small, even tiny, with exhibits made from contributions by skiing enthusiasts who want their souvenirs and memorabilia to live on. If you have some interesting relics from the early days of skiing, considering making a donation to a museum near you. Here are the museums that participated in this year’s Mystery Glimpse. Thanks to all.
Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum
Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum
US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum