Several area Boy Scouts received their rowing badge from a unique person Monday: a gold medalist from the 1952 Olympics.

One of the first Americans to win a gold medal in rowing, Chuck Logg met with the Boy Scouts at the Olympic Venue to hand out the badges, tell his story and encourage young rowers to continue with the sport.

Logg began his journey to the Olympics at the behest of his father, who purchased a shell for him so he could qualify for the games. Despite rowing for only a few years, Logg and his rowing partner Tom Prince reached the Olympics by winning the qualifier by two seconds.

“We only rowed together for three months by the time we got the medal,” Logg said. “Tom came out to row in January of 1952 and on July 3, 1952, he had a gold medal.”

After the Olympics, the two drifted apart, and with Olympic champions not making the type of money they do today, Logg went back to college and then served in the Army for four and a half years.

“There were no big rewards and rowing isn’t a money sport,” he said. “You still have to work.”

Logg won the national championship and competed in the 1956 Pan-Am Games, but failed to reach the Olympics that year. He stopped rowing in 1960 to raise a family, and didn’t get back into the sport until 2000.

“It’s like riding a bike,” said the 79-year-old Logg. “You have some bad habits you have to work out.”