Bernhoff Otelius Hansen (August 17, 1877 – December 22, 1950) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics for the

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. He was born in Rognan in the municipality of Saltdal in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Originally he was a

wrestler in Nordland, but one and a half years before the 1904 Olympic Games, he left Norway for the United States. He was affiliated with the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-based Norwegian Turnverein gymnastic society. Hansen was sponsored by the Norwegian Turnverein at the Olympics in 1904. Hansen won three matches at the 1904 Olympics and the gold medal in heavyweight category. His first name was spelled "Bernhoff" by FILA and in an article by ''

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'' from January 16, 1918. By the time of the article he was referred to as a "Norwegian light-heavyweight wrestler". Hansen died in

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at the age of 73. In 2012 Norwegian historians found documentation showing that Hansen was registered as an "alien" (foreigner) as late as 1925, and questioning whether he ever received American citizenship. The historians thus petitioned to have Hansen's gold registered as Norwegian.

References

External links

* 1877 births 1950 deaths People from Saltdal Norwegian emigrants to the United States Wrestlers at the 1904 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics {{US-wrestling-bio-stub