Tweet
I have no idea how many of you know about Jim Thorpe, but everyone should. I've been pretty obsessed with him since I was in the 4th grade and first learned of him and his feats and his amazing athletic prowess. I read the book, Jim Thorpe, All American once a year from 4th grade until I graduated from HS. I've watched the movie staring Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe and read just about everything I could about the man, the myth, the legend that I can find online. He dominated football and track and was pretty good at a number of other sports, some of which he also played on a professional level.
Thorpe was born on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma and eventually shipped of to Pennsylvania for schooling at Carlisle College where he made a name for himself on the gridiron as well as on the track. Dwight D Eisenhower once said that he was the greatest football player he ever faced. Thorpe became an track star by accident. Legend has it he was walking by while the track team was practicing and asked if he could try. He was talking about the high jump and I believe he was in overalls and work shoes and easily cleared the bar. He became a beast in both the Decathlon and the Pentathlon. He played football professionally for years as well as some baseball. He was also said to be quite the ballroom dancer and a pretty good bowler. I want to say he also played some ice hockey but I'm not sure if that's true or not but I know I've seen it mentioned somewhere.
Anyway, he was stripped of his medals when it was discovered that while in college he played some minor league baseball over a couple of summers, which technically made him not an amateur athlete. Other Olympians also played, but they would play under fake names. Jim didn't know any better. The IOC stripped him of his medals and removed his records from the books, but that has finally been changed, 110 years after he won them.
Sorry for the long post, but I've been passionate about Thorpe for decades and this is a big deal for me. He's definitely worth looking into if you're not familiar with him, or even if you are. He is arguably the greatest athlete we've ever had. He's unarguably one of the greatest.
Eagle - Jim Thorpe reinstated as sole winner for 1912 Olympic golds
Again, sorry for the extra long post on this one. Guess I didn't fully realize just how strongly I felt about this news.
Thorpe was born on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma and eventually shipped of to Pennsylvania for schooling at Carlisle College where he made a name for himself on the gridiron as well as on the track. Dwight D Eisenhower once said that he was the greatest football player he ever faced. Thorpe became an track star by accident. Legend has it he was walking by while the track team was practicing and asked if he could try. He was talking about the high jump and I believe he was in overalls and work shoes and easily cleared the bar. He became a beast in both the Decathlon and the Pentathlon. He played football professionally for years as well as some baseball. He was also said to be quite the ballroom dancer and a pretty good bowler. I want to say he also played some ice hockey but I'm not sure if that's true or not but I know I've seen it mentioned somewhere.
Anyway, he was stripped of his medals when it was discovered that while in college he played some minor league baseball over a couple of summers, which technically made him not an amateur athlete. Other Olympians also played, but they would play under fake names. Jim didn't know any better. The IOC stripped him of his medals and removed his records from the books, but that has finally been changed, 110 years after he won them.
Sorry for the long post, but I've been passionate about Thorpe for decades and this is a big deal for me. He's definitely worth looking into if you're not familiar with him, or even if you are. He is arguably the greatest athlete we've ever had. He's unarguably one of the greatest.
Eagle - Jim Thorpe reinstated as sole winner for 1912 Olympic golds
Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912. The IOC had listed him as a co-champion in the official record book.
“We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned.”
Thorpe’s Native American name, Wa-Tho-Huk, means “Bright Path.” The organization with the help of IOC member Anita DeFrantz had contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee and the family of Hugo Wieslander, who had been elevated to decathlon gold medalist in 1913.
“They confirmed that Wieslander himself had never accepted the Olympic gold medal allocated to him, and had always been of the opinion that Jim Thorpe was the sole legitimate Olympic gold medallist,” the IOC said, adding that the Swedish Olympic Committee agreed.
“The same declaration was received from the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, whose athlete, Ferdinand Bie, was named as the gold medalist when Thorpe was stripped of the pentathlon title,” the IOC said.
Bie will be listed as the silver medalist in the pentathlon, and Wieslander with silver in the decathlon.
.....
Thorpe tripled the score of his nearest competitor in the pentathlon and had 688 more points than the second-place finisher in the decathlon.
During the closing ceremony, King Gustav V told Thorpe: “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”
“We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned.”
Thorpe’s Native American name, Wa-Tho-Huk, means “Bright Path.” The organization with the help of IOC member Anita DeFrantz had contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee and the family of Hugo Wieslander, who had been elevated to decathlon gold medalist in 1913.
“They confirmed that Wieslander himself had never accepted the Olympic gold medal allocated to him, and had always been of the opinion that Jim Thorpe was the sole legitimate Olympic gold medallist,” the IOC said, adding that the Swedish Olympic Committee agreed.
“The same declaration was received from the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, whose athlete, Ferdinand Bie, was named as the gold medalist when Thorpe was stripped of the pentathlon title,” the IOC said.
Bie will be listed as the silver medalist in the pentathlon, and Wieslander with silver in the decathlon.
.....
Thorpe tripled the score of his nearest competitor in the pentathlon and had 688 more points than the second-place finisher in the decathlon.
During the closing ceremony, King Gustav V told Thorpe: “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”