IOC Restores 1912 Olympic Gold Medals Solely to Jim Thorpe
By: Levi Rickert (Native News Online)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Details By Levi Rickert July 15, 2022
Even in death, Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox, Potawatomi) has once again made history and proved himself "the greatest athlete in the world."
In a turn of events, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will display the name of Jim Thorpe, whose original name Wa-Tho-Huk means "Bright Path," as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. This change comes on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe's medal in decathlon.
The official announcement was made this morning at 10:00 a.m. It comes 110 years to the day when Thorpe was awarded two Olympic gold medals by King Gustav of Sweden at the conclusion of the 1912 Olympic Games. Upon presenting Thorpe the medals, King Gustav told Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."
Today's announcement of the IOC's decision to restore the gold medals solely to Thorpe was made possible, in part, by the engagement of the nonprofit Bright Path Strong organization, supported by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz.
Jointly, they contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) and the surviving family members of Hugo K. Wieslander, who was named as the gold medallist in the decathlon when Thorpe was stripped of his medals 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.
When contacted by the IOC, the Swedish Olympic Committee also declared that Thorpe should be acknowledged as the sole Olympic champion in the decathlon at the Stockholm games in 1912.
The issue of whether or not Thorpe was the sole owner of the gold medals came when the IOC stripped Thorpe of his Olympic gold medals because they discovered he had been compensated for playing minor league baseball prior to his participation in the 1912 Olympics. The amount of Thorpe's compensation was roughly the cost of his room and board. Back then, the IOC's rules barred athletes from participating in the Games if they had previously been compensated for playing any sport prior to the Olympics.
In response, the IOC erased Thorpe's records from the Olympic record books. To those concerned with Thorpe's legacy and historical accuracy, his medals and records were stolen from him. Many athletes have been found guilty of having been compensated for participating in sports prior to competing in the Olympics, some in the same era as his, but did not had to pay the penalty Thorpe did.
"The IOC's decision in 1912 to strip Thorpe's medals and strike out his records was not just intended to punish him for violating the elitist Victorian codes of amateurism. It was also intended to obscure him—and to a certain extent it succeeded," Sally Jenkins wrote in Smithsonian Magazine in July 2012, on the 100th anniversary of Thorpe's win.
Attempts to get the medals returned were not rewarded until 1982, almost 30 years after Thorpe's death, when replicas were delivered to his family. Even though the gold medals were awarded, the IOC did not restore Thorpe's records in Olympic history.
The IOC did not go far enough to reinstate Thorpe's records in the 1980s, but it has now, according to the president of Bright Path Strong.
"We welcome the fact that thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found. This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the concerned National Olympic Committees," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
With this decision, Thorpe's name will now be displayed as the sole gold medalist in pentathlon and decathlon.
In addition, World Athletics, as the responsible International Sports Federation for track and field, has agreed to amend its records to reflect this decision.
"We are so grateful this nearly 110-year-old injustice has finally been corrected, and there is no confusion about the most remarkable athlete in history," Nedra Darling, Bright Path Strong co-founder and citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, said in a statement.
Thorpe was orphaned as a child and placed in the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, an Indian boarding school, which he attended from 1904 to 1913. He represented the United States at the Olympic games 12 years before American Indians gained U.S. citizenship. On the transatlantic trip to Stockholm, Thorpe and a Jewish teammate were forced to travel in the bottom of the ship, while the white American Olympic athletes received first-class accommodations.
Even after he arrived in Stockholm, Thorpe had to contend with obstacles. On the morning of the decathlon, his shoes were stolen shortly before his first event. Wearing shoes found in a trash can — one too big, the other too small — Thorpe won the gold in the decathlon with a 25-yard lead.
Anita Thorpe, granddaughter of Jim Thorpe, Vice Chairman/Sac and Fox Gaming Commission, and BPS Honorary Board Member, said in a statement: "A moment 110 years in the making to finally hear the words officially spoken again, 'Jim Thorpe is the sole winner of the 1912 decathlon and pentathlon.' A glorious time of celebrations to all of his friends, family, and supporters. Hooray!!!"
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Another great sports moment involving Jim Thorpe was the football game between Army and Carlisle Indian School in 1912. Some call it the game that changed football. In the early part of the century, Carlisle was a football powerhouse. With an enrollment of only 1100 students, many under the age of 18 Carlisle defeated the biggest most powerful college football teams in the nation.
It's the people: Legacy of 1912 Army vs.
Carlisle football game endures
Bright Path, is one of the greatest athletes that ever lived.
Without a doubt. Glad to see sense and sanity showed itself regarding the extreme injustice done to that incredible man.
What does it mean that they awarded "replica medals" in 1982?
1912 was the last year the Olympics awarded solid gold medals.
Did they not pay the survivors $20K also?
Just another slight?
Interesting and important questions!
Some articles say replica and others say duplicate, so your question remains unanswered since replica could have been not 100% and duplicate seems to imply that they were the same as 1912 which would be gold.
Rules are rules but this exception is nice to see.
He was one helleva athlete..... certainly one of the best ever.
In addition to his many feats in sports he became a ballroom dancer, winning first place in the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.
Little know fact is that he also played professional basketball in the 1920s.
Yep, one amazing athlete ..... no doubt about that.
Thorpe played most of the major league sports plus being one of the greatest college football players of all time.
Great photo, MM.
John Chief Meyers was a catcher for the Giants during that time period, known as the iron man for his toughness behind the plate. In the 1911 World Series, he threw out 12 runners, a record.
This is a photo of him and Albert Chief Bender one of the greatest pitchers of all time in the 1911 World Series.
So they took his medals away because he got a room paid for while he played baseball...
Sad but true.
Ridiculous. I would think most of the ballplayers had a room given to them as most of them would have been from out of town.
It's not like they paid him much of anything.
Typical of how minorities were cheated out of any "indulgences" by unscrupulous and envious men and women who go behind the back and stir up trouble. Of course, any participant would need assistance of some kind to stay well and healthy in order to compete. But, it was a chance to deny a Native American his proper achievement and fame (in his lifetime).
This may seem petty and argumentative coming from me, but frankly, this kind of denial was prominent in the period, this country, and parts of the world.
Sadly that is true CB, but one of the things that I found quite funny was during that time period one of the greatest pitchers of all time was Albert Chief Bender an Ojibwe from White Earth MN. When racial insults were thrown at him during the games he would walk up to the fence cup his hands around his mouth and in a booming voice holler back at the bigots, ''Foreigners''. No one from the stands ever came to the rail and challenged him.
HA!
Oh, it's true. It's true.
100 year olld wrong has been fixed.
And, I was to the town named after him 2 weeks ago
lucky you/s
Although it has improved greatly over the last 60 years...
Two other indigenous athletes from the US won medals in the same Olympics.
Lewis Tewanima a member of the Hopi tribe won the Silver Medal in the 10,000 meters another American didn't win a medal in that event until Billy Mills of the Lakota tribe won the gold in 1964 in what is considered the greatest upset in Olympic track and field events in history.
The great Duke Kahanamoku won the gold in the 100-meter freestyle and in other Olympics won four more medals and went on to introduce Surfing to the world.
Since time is an illusion and we only glimpse a small sliver of the multiverse at any given moment, or even during the totality of our lives, I will indulge the thought there is a possibility somewhere in the sky Jim Thorpe is smiling today.
I'm sure that you are correct.
What a wonderful and uplifting story.
Jim was one of the best all-around athletes there ever was. To finally have what was his rightfully restored is great news, if very late. It is a shame he was not around to have seen it.
My dad used to tell me this story along with being told to go to the back of the bus. Being an Indian Jew was a tough one. In some ways we have come far, but never far enough.
Interesting note Perrie. If the "white American Olympic athletes" "received first-class accomodations" - whoops - I do hope all of them who "may" have won a medal had theirs taken away as did Thorpe for receipt of the same "accomodation".
IMHO
Indeed it is, long over due but still a great honor or Jim Thorpe and the ''Bright Path Strong'' organization that never gave up on getting the wrong righted.
I say good for them! The squeaky wheel gets the oil!
So much hard work. I mean really. This great man should have been able to enjoy the fruits of his 'labor' during his lifetime.
What has occurred is a great legacy 'now,' but all its sweetness has dried up. Unless, the family gets the financial 'reparation' with interest.
Never enjoyed Burt Lancaster as Thorpe
I won't bother to comment on that movie but Angelia Jollie is producing a new and updated version of Thorpe. I believe the title will be something along the lines of ''The Jim Thorpe Story'' and it will be starring a reel Indian, Martin Sensmeier. I believe that it is currently in the pre-production stages.
Im sure you're familiar with a town in Pa,, that's actually right near A Macs place in the Pocono mts named Jim Thorpe. I have friends who have a log Cabin there on the outskirts. Very cool little old mining town with old railroads and the Lehigh River. They have some monuments and such honoring the former Olympian. I don't believe Thorpe had any actual ties though, but they are respectful of him from all ive seen. Good story Kavika.
Thanks, igknorantzrulz.
Yes, I'm familiar with the town and the ugly history that goes with Jim Thorpe being buried there. Not for this article but some time in the future I might post an article on it.
This gives me a chance to ask a critical question: Is it "Indian" or "Native American" that is preferred by this country's native people? Or, are the two terms acceptably interchangeable?
I ask this, because I tend to use the term, "Indian" for people from India. But, I do care about getting it right.
The term Indian and Native American are pretty much interchangable also the term indigenous in the US. In Canada the term First Nation is the perfered usage.
Thank you so much. It is important to get understanding and equally so to get clarity.
There is a reason we celebrate sports. You look at Jim Thorpe's career and you realize he was an Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein level of anomaly. He was beyond a once in a generation occurrence. It's been a century and we are still waiting.
An interesting way to look at Jim Thorpe and his athletic powers.