IOC Restores 1912 Olympic Gold Medals Solely to Jim Thorpe

Even in death, Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox, Potawatomi) has once again made history and proved himself “the greatest athlete in the world.” 

In a turn of events, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will display the name of Jim Thorpe, whose original name Wa-Tho-Huk that means “Bright Path,” as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. This change comes on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe’s medal in decathlon.

The official announcement was made this morning. It comes 110 years to the day when Thorpe was awarded two Olympic gold medals by King Gustav of Sweden at the conclusion of the 1912 Olympic Games. Upon presenting Thorpe the medals, King Gustav told Thorpe, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.”

Today’s announcement of the IOC’s decision to restore the gold medals solely to Thorpe was made possible, in part, by the engagement of the nonprofit Bright Path Strong organization, supported by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz. 

The issue of whether or not Thorpe was the sole owner of the gold medals came when the IOC stripped Thorpe of his Olympic gold medals because they discovered he had been compensated for playing minor league baseball prior to his participation in the 1912 Olympics. The amount of Thorpe’s compensation was roughly the cost of his room and board. Back then, the IOC’s rules barred athletes from participating in the Games if they had previously been compensated for playing any sport prior to the Olympics. 

In response, the IOC erased Thorpe’s records from the Olympic record books. To those concerned with Thorpe’s legacy and historical accuracy, his medals and records were stolen from him. Many athletes have been found guilty of having been compensated for participating in sports prior to competing in the Olympics, some in the same era as his, but did not had to pay the penalty Thorpe did.

“The IOC’s decision in 1912 to strip Thorpe’s medals and strike out his records was not just intended to punish him for violating the elitist Victorian codes of amateurism. It was also intended to obscure him—and to a certain extent it succeeded,” Sally Jenkins wrote in Smithsonian Magazine in July 2012, on the 100th anniversary of Thorpe’s win.

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