AP
Kjetil Andre Aamodt

An advertisement congratulating Norwegian alpine skier Kjetil Andre Aamodt for his second gold medal at the Salt Lake Games may have broken Olympic rules.

The Oslo newspaper Aftenposten reported Monday that in a worst-case scenario, Aamodt could be stripped of the medal, although such a harsh punishment is considered unlikely.

The newspaper advertisement by Nordica, Aamodt's ski and boot supplier, showed a picture of the skier kissing his skis, with the company's logo and a note of thanks. Olympic rules generally prohibit sponsors from printing photographs of their athletes and citing their results during the Games.

The Norwegian Olympic team said in a news release that they immediately informed the International Olympic Committee about the advertisement. Neither the team or Aamodt knew about it beforehand, and had no monetary interest in the ad.

The deputy leader of the Norwegian Olympic team, Aasne Havnelid, says the IOC appears to be satisfied with the quick Norwegian response, which included trying to stop the newspaper ad.

Some information for this report provided by AP.

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