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
Mike, On your Olympic medal post in the current Senior Skiing, Anders Haugen was credited with a third place finish in the ski jumping event at Chamonix in 1924 but not until the 1980s when an error in the original scoring was discovered 40 years after the event. The native of Norway thus became officially the first American ‘”skier” to win an OIympic medal. Haugen did not win a medal in 1928. The first American Winter Olympics medal winner was speed skater Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid who won the gold medal in speed skating at Chamonix. Phil Johnson
Thank you for that story. When I was running the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame I was well aware of this gentleman and was excited that his medal is part of what is being displayed in that museum.
Tom West