Posted on 07/15/2022 5:08:19 AM PDT by Phlap
Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes in history and the victim of what many considered a century-old Olympic injustice, has been restored as the sole winner of the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Games.
Thorpe, who excelled at a dozen or more sports, had dominated his two events at the 1912 Games in Stockholm but was stripped of his medals after it emerged that he had briefly played professional baseball before his Olympic career. American officials, in what historians considered a blend of racism and a fanatical devotion to the idea of amateurism, had been among the loudest proponents of Thorpe’s disqualification.
The International Olympic Committee’s recognition of Thorpe, to be announced on Friday, comes 40 years after it restored him as a co-winner of both events. But the restoration in 1982 was not enough for his supporters, who carried on campaigning on behalf of Thorpe, an American icon who is particularly revered in Native American communities.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So why did they wait til now to do this...
Around the same time Simone Biles gets a Medal of Freedom from the POTATUS, but not Michael Phelps.
Bet the communications on this would be interesting.
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania just as regularly tells them to stick it.
About time. The whole concept of amateurism in the Olympics has been meaningless for quite a while, certainly since they decided to let NBA players compete.
The town, Mauch Chunk, was my grandmother’s birthplace. She is buried there. From a Baltimore Sun article:
Thorpe was born in Yale, Okla., and studied and played at the Carlisle (Pa.) Indian School. He never set foot in Mauch Chunk. But the citizens, out of desperation, voted in 1954 to trade in their long-established name so as to adopt him in death with the idea he would bring instant notoriety to the area and rehabilitate its economy.
This is where Jim was eventually buried, after his third wife took his remains from Lomita, Calif., where he died, to Shawnee, Okla., and then to Tulsa. Finally, Mauch Chunk became the “destination in death” because it represented the best financial deal she could arrange. A body for auction? That of Thorpe? Yes, too bad.
They still have a monument in town square dedicated to Jim Thorpe. His remains are supposedly buried underneath the obelisk. If you ever visit the town, have dinner at the Molly Maguire’s Pub. Great food. The town is also known for the old Irish coal miners who gave birth to the Union movement.
Pentathlon:
Gold - Ferdinand Bie Norway
Silver - James Donahue United States
Bronze - Frank Lukeman Canada
Decathlon:
Gold - Hugo Wieslander Sweden
Silver - Charles Lomberg Sweden
Bronze - Gösta Holmér Sweden United States
What proof do they have that racism played a part in his disqualification? None
Some of the old-timers there still call it Mauch Chunk, but Jim Thorpe, PA it remains.
If I remember the story correctly, the decision by the IOC to restore Thorpe’s gold medals to his name was not all that controversial because the second-place competitors who were awarded first place after Thorpe’s disqualification both refused to accept the gold medals.
Bidens inflation is making the countr- Squirrel...!!!
There is a little town in NE Pennsylvania...
Yes. Been there many times since my brother lived there many years. A beautiful quaint community at the foothills of the Poconos. Very beautiful with much to do. I never heard he asked to be buried there though. We were always under the impression his home state (Oklahoma) refused his remains since he was stripped of his medals at time of death. Mauch Chunk took a chance and accepted his remains to reboost their economy with the decline of coal. Oh, and it is also credidited with having the world’s first roller coaster using an abandoned mountain coal rail!
Regards!
What an athlete!
NBA players? Long before that. Since the commies subsidized athletes.
“The whole concept of amateurism in the Olympics has been meaningless for quite a while, certainly since they decided to let NBA players compete.”
It died way sooner than that: but with the Soviets and their satellite countries.
Jim Thorpe was born and raised in Oklahoma. He went to the Carlisle Indian School in PA in his youth. How/why he went from Oklahoma to PA, I don't know. Excerpt from Wikipedia:
"During the early 20th century, the Carlisle Indian School was a national football powerhouse, and regularly competed against other major programs such as the Ivy League schools Harvard, Pennsylvania, Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Brown, and Army (West Point) and Navy (Annapolis). Coach Pop Warner led a highly successful football team and athletic program at the Carlisle School, and went on to create other successful collegiate programs. He coached the exceptional athlete Jim Thorpe and his teammates, bringing national recognition to the small school. By 1907, the Carlisle Indians were the most dynamic team in college football. They had pioneered the forward pass, the overhand spiral and other trick plays that frustrated their opponents. The Carlisle Indians have been characterized as the "team that invented football."
Interesting !
Connie Mack of the old Philadelphia A's recruited both Hall of Fam pitcher Charles Joseph "Chief" Bender and hall of very good catcher Chief Meyers from that school.
Her post mortem travels would seem to reinforce that. Oklahoma had their chance and turned it down.
Neat little town..nice area of PA.
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