Four years later, Aamodt gets his medals back

The 19 Olympic and World Championship alpine skiing medals that were stolen from Norwegian star Kjetil Andre Aamodt have been returned four years after the theft.

OSLO, Norway — The 19 Olympic and World Championship alpine skiing medals that were stolen from Norwegian star Kjetil Andre Aamodt have been returned four years after the theft.
    Aamodt, now 36, retired in January after a 17-year career that left him with the most Olympic and World Championship medals in ski racing history — on paper at least — with 20. The first 19 medals he won were taken during a break-in at his father Finn Aamodt's home in August 2003.
    ''This is very happy day, to say the least,'' Finn Aamodt said on the state radio network NRK Tuesday.
    He said the medals were returned anonymously, through a series of middlemen, but refused to give any other details.
    Aamodt did have one Olympic medal in his possession, after he won the super G gold at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. That made him, at age 35, the oldest skier to win an Olympic alpine medal, and the only man to win the same alpine event in three Olympics.
    In all, Aamodt has an all-time record eight Olympic medals, with four gold, two silver and two bronze. He also holds the record for world championship medals at 12 — five golds, four silvers and three bronzes from 1991 to 2003. He also posted 21 World Cup wins.

    — The Associated Press