Jim Thorpe Back On Track After 110 Years: IOC Restores Sole Gold Medal Status

By Barry Janoff

July 15, 2022: The citizens of Jim Thorpe, PA, and many others elsewhere, have had good day.

The International Olympic Committee said today it would “henceforth display the name of Jim Thorpe as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games Stockholm 1912. This change comes on the very day of the 110th anniversary of Thorpe’s medal in decathlon.”

Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

However, the Amateur Athletic Union — the predecessor of what is now the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee — decided he had infringed the rules regarding amateurism in place at the time by having previously been paid to play baseball and removed his name as the medal winner.

With today’s decision, the IOC said Thorpe’s name will be displayed as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon for the 1912 Games.

The action was driven by descendants of Thorpe and Bright Path Strong and its Tribal partners. Thorpe’s parents were both part-Native American and he grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in what became Oklahoma.

Thorpe’s given name of Wa-Tho-Huk translates to "Bright Path.” Bright Path Strong is a Native-led non-profit organization “whose mission is to continue Jim Thorpe's legacy of community service.”

"Thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong a solution could be found,” IOC president Thomas Bach said via the organization.

“This is a most exceptional and unique situation. It is addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the concerned National Olympic Committees."

The ultimate decision to restore Thorpe’s status has been on-going for decades.

Thorpe was reinstated by the AAU in 1973 and the USOPC in 1975.

The IOC Executive Board resolved in 1982 to restore his status as an amateur at the request of the USOPC and returned replica gold medals to the Thorpe family and designated him a co-champion in the official records.

During a ceremony, Thorpe’s was added to those of the other gold medal winners. But the official report of the 1912 Games remain unchanged, meaning that the other 1912 medallists were not declassified, according to the IOC.

That has now changed.

"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,’” Anita Thorpe, granddaughter of Jim Thorpe, vice chairman Sac and Fox Gaming Commission and BPS honorary board member, said via the group.

“A glorious time of celebrations to all of his friends, family, and supporters. Hooray!!!"

Thorpe is an iconic figure in U.S. athletics. He was a stand-out in baseball, track and field and football, among numerous other sports.

In 1920–21, he served as the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which later became in the NFL.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Hollywood made a movie of his life in 1951, Jim Thorpe: All American, starring Burt Lancaster.

He also appeared in dozens of movies, largely as a Native America, but also in such roles as an uncredited theatergoer in the 1933 version of King Kong, according to IMBD.

Thorpe was born born May 28, 1888 and died March 28, 1953.

"He was an inspiration then and he is an inspiration now. Today is yet another victory for this great hero."

Upon his death, the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk in Pennsylvania, located about 80 miles northwest from Philadelphia, made a deal with Thorpe’s  third wife, Patricia Thorpe, to merge and change their name to Jim Thorpe, PA, in exchange for Thorpe’s body being buried there.

According to RoadsideAmerica.com, “Jim rests above ground in a marble tomb. Pictures are etched into the tomb showing Jim as an Olympic athlete, football player, basketball player, baseball player, and riding horseback in full native dress.”

In 2015, the Supreme Court denied the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma and descendants Richard Thorpe and William Thorpe from moving his body to Oklahoma.

"Jim Thorpe faced seemingly insurmountable odds on and off the field,” Dennis Hendricks, council member of Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk Indians and BPS board member, said today via the group.

“He represented this country before it even recognized Native Americans as citizens, but he never gave up. He was an inspiration then and he is an inspiration now. Today is yet another victory for this great hero."

Photos: Pro Football Hall of Fame

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