Passage Five
In 1924, Nordic ski events were held at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France． But the American skiers came home without medals． Norway took most of the medals for cross-country and ski jumping events that year． They did the same for many years after． From 1924 through 1972, the American skiers had no medals to show for their Olympic trips． The U．S． was generally thought to be weak in ski competition
But in 1974 it was discovered that the U． S． record was slightly better than people had been led to believe． And Norway's record was not quite as good． The discovery was a surprise and a delight to American ski fans, but even more so to American skier Anders Haugen． After fifty years, Anders got the medal he should have won back in 1924．
In the ski jump event at Chamonix in 1924, Haugen had scored in fourth place． He had just missed earning a medal． His score was 17． 916, just slightly behind Thorleif  Haug of Norway． Haug's score of 18 had won him the bronze medal．
But in 1974, Norway's National Olympic Committee did a check of all final Olympic results． There had been an error in computing Haug's score! So Haugen, now, an elderly man, traveled across the ocean for his award． On September 12, 1974, hewas given a bronze medal in a special ceremony at the Norway Ski Museum．