Jim Thorpe reinstated as sole winner for 1912 Olympic gold medals

Jim Thorpe has been declared as the sole winner of the pentathlon and decathlon events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

Published : Jul 15, 2022 17:54 IST

Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States at the Olympics.
Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States at the Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP
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Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States at the Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP

Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm — nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for violating the rules of the time.

The International Olympic Committee announced the change on Friday, on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon in Stockholm.

Thorpe was discovered to have been paid to play minor league baseball, an infringement of the Olympic amateurism rules.

As a result, he was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal.

Thorpe, to some, remained the greatest all-around athlete ever and was voted as the Associated Press’ Athlete of the Half Century in a poll in 1950.

In 1982 — 29 years after Thorpe's death — the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family, but neither his Olympic records were not reinstated nor was his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events.

Instead, the IOC had listed him as a co-champion in the official record book.

Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912.

“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,” Bach added

World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, has also agreed to amend its records, the IOC said.

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