Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the only winner of the pentathlon and decathlon Olympics in 1912 in Stockholm, almost 110 years after he was stripped of those gold medals for breaking the strict amateurism rules of the time. The International Olympic Committee planned to announce the change on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.”
Thorpe, an American, returned to the tape show in New York, but a few months later, it was discovered that he had been paid to play softball for two summers. This violates the Olympic amateurism rules. He was punished by stripping off his gold medal. The incident was described as the first international sports scandal.
In 1982, the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family but his Olympic records were not reinstated. His status as the sole gold medalist of the two events was also not reinstated.
Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912. The IOC had listed him as a co-champion in the official record book.
