Bernhoff Hansen

Bernhoff Otelius Hansen (August 17, 1877 – December 22, 1950) was a Norwegian-American wrestler who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.

He was born in Rognan in Saltdal Municipality, Norway. 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.

Norway did not send a team to the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. However, like his Norwegian compatriot Charles Ericksen, Hansen was affiliated with the Brooklyn-based 'Norwegian Turnverein', agymnastic club in New York, which sponsored his participation in the 1904 Olympics. He won the gold medal in the freestyle heavyweight event by winning all his three matches by fall. The Olympic tournament also served as the AAU Wrestling Championships. Hansen successfully defended his AAU heavyweight title in 1905, his only other U.S. championship.

Since 2024, the IOC has considered the National Olympic Committee (NOC) affiliation of the club or team for which an athlete competed to be the decisive factor for the first three Olympic Games (1896–1904), attributing participation and medals accordingly. Consequently, Hansen's gold medal in the freestyle heavyweight event, as well as Charles Ericksen's gold medal in the freestyle welterweight event at 1904 Olympics, are officially attributed to the United States, as both wrestlers represented the American club 'Brooklyn Norwegian Turnverein'.