After A Century of Controversy, Olympic Committee Recognizes Jim Thorpe As Winner Of Two 1912 Events

The International Olympic Committee announced Friday it will recognize Jim Thorpe as the sole winner of the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 games in Stockholm.  

“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,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a press release.  

Thorpe, an Oklahoma native who is considered to be one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, lost his gold medals in 1913 when IOC stripped Thorpe of his amateur status due to his history of playing in a professional baseball league in 1909 and 1910.  

“To call it professional was kind of a joke,” said Justin Lenhart, curator of the Jim Thorpe Museum in Oklahoma City. “The (baseball) league folded before the season ended in 1909, players would quit teams halfway through games, Thorpe was owed money both years at the end of the season… but he technically did receive money to play a sport.”  

After the Olympics, Thorpe went on to be a champion of several sports including professional baseball and football, helping to lead the organization that went on to become the National Football League.  

The Oklahoma Historical Society said Thorpe “was perhaps the United States’ greatest athlete of the twentieth century.  

Many considered the IOC’s stripping of Thorpe’s awards and records to be an injustice. A petition to have Thorpe’s wins be properly recognized has collected more than 75,000 signatures.  

The family of Thorpe, who was born near Prague, Oklahoma, and a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, advocated for his reinstatement for years.  

Mary Thorpe, Jim’s granddaughter, said the removal of his wins came at a challenging time for Native Americans.  

“That time period, there was a lot of racism going on,” she said. “They didn't think that this rugged little Indian boy from Oklahoma was going to come and blow everyone away.”  

Lenhart said the IOC’s removal of Thorpe’s awards was “just another way that American Indians (were) getting taken to task simply because of who they are.”  

“I think restoring this has a lot of meaning outside of just athletics and awards, especially for American Indians,” he said.