Jim Thorpe gets Medals Back

Jim Thorpe is known as one of the greatest athletes of all time, and in nineteen twelve won the ptathlon and de cathalon at the Olympics, but due to a mistake, was stripped of his medals. Luckily, eighty years later that wrong was righted. This is the story behind this iconic event. Welcome to Daily Sport's History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a quick deep dive into sport's history every day. Just seven months after James Francis Thorpe, better known as Jim Thorpe, stood at the peak of Olympic glory, it all came crashing down foot. Jim Thorpe caught fire at the nineteen twelve stock Holm Games, winning Olympic gold medals in the all around, patathlon and a cathalon in a performance that has never since been equalled. He had earned the praise from King Gustaf the Fifth, saying sir, you are now the greatest athlete in the world. Back home, after a tiring round of parades and celebrations, he led the Carlisle, Indian Institution School football team through a triumphant season, culminating in its dynamic and well deserved victory over Armed. Then, during Carlyle's team post season demonstration tour in western Massachusetts, a chance remarked by one thorpe former's coaches gave a local reporter the scout of a lifetime. There are different versions of the conversation, but the coach, Charles Clancy, revealed that Thorpe had played two summers in the league in nineteen nine and nineteen ten, and Thorpe earned five dollars a game. The reporter, Roy Johnson, spent several months developing a story and printed it in the Worcester Telegram in early January nineteen thirty. It laid there for several weeks and Clancy denied it, but on January twenty fifth, the story bloomed into a national headline with the news that formal charges had been filed against Thorpe. Even before the investigation, Sullivan had decided on the course of action. If Thorpe is found guilty, he told the Tribune, the trophies will be returned and his records will be erased from the books. The next day, Thorpe signed a letter admitting the charge. The charge was playing in the Olympics, not as an amateur The letter said, I did not play for money there because my property brings me enough money to live on, but because I played ball, I was not wise to the ways of the world and did not realize this was wrong and it would make me a professional in track sports. Sullivan rejected the plete and strip Thorpe of his amateur status, but the letter that the AAU sent to the IOC reflected some misgivings. It seems strange that men, having known knowledge of Thorpe's professional conduct did not, at the time, for honor of their country, come forward and place the hands on the American Committee such information as they had. The National Committee members wrote, this affair caused some puzzlement in Stockholm. The official Olympic report reveals uncertainty about proper procedure, but Warner presented in Thorpe's absence, the coach took the medals and two others Olympic trophies from Thorpe and shipped them back to Suck. This hasty action suggested more afoot than just Thorpe's misconduct, but the drama continued. A security guard stole the medals, and after they were recovered, the state decided it would be safer in the Oklahoma Historical Museum. Through special arrangements the Historical Society and Thorpe's surviving sons, William and Richard, the medals are now on display under tight security at the National Museum of American Indians. The reputation of Jim Thorpe, the greatest athlete in the world, will finally be restored to pe glory. The IOC met and decided, given the circumstances of the situation, Thorpe should be brought back into the history book and posthumously rewarded his medals nearly eighty years after he won it. Some say this was because Jim was an American Indian that they put harsher puniaments on him. Some say they were just too focused on imagturism. We may never know the exact reason, but now Jim Thorpe is back in the history books, back to being one of the greatest athletes of all time. In his athletic powers will be remembered for all time. Thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please rate and review wherever you listened, and we look forward to hearing from you and come back tomorrow for more Daily sports history,