Jim Thorpe: The World's Greatest Athlete

Native American Athlete Won Olympic Decathlon, Pentathlon Gold In 1912

The early twentieth century athlete, Jim Thorpe, a.k.a. Wa-Tho-Huk (Bright Path) of the Sac and Fox Nation, dominated in most every sport he participated in. The Oklahoma born Native American, represented the United States at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden even though the US had still not yet recognized Native Americans as United States citizens.

As the games were about to begin, someone stole Jim Thorpe’s shoes. Undeterred in his quest for victory, Thorpe searched the area, eventually scavenging a pair of mismatched shoes from some garbage cans. Despite the setback, he went on to win gold in dominating performances. Jim Thorpe won gold medals in both the pentathlon and the decathlon. His record wins in the two events prompted Sweden’s King Gustav V to proclaim him the “World’s Greatest Athlete” as he presented the medals. Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King!”

Six months after Thorpe’s gold medal wins, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped him of his Olympic Gold after a newspaper article reported that the athlete had earned about 57$ playing minor league baseball. It was later discovered in the rule books of the Stockholm Olympics that any dispute had to be made within 30 days of discovery.

With his amateur status now gone and unable to compete in further Olympic competition, Jim Thorpe went on to become a Major League Baseball star before switching over to the NFL where he became the league’s first President and played until the age of 41.

For the rest of his life, however, Thorpe was troubled by the loss of his Olympic gold and he and others sought to reclaim his status and medals. After his death in 1953, family members and other advocates continued the fight to restore his Olympic legacy.

“We have spent the last 50 years of our lives trying to correct the worst injustice in sports history — Jim Thorpe having his Olympic gold medals and records illegally taken away,” - Dr. Florence Ridlon, Founder, The Jim Thorpe Foundation

By their efforts, 30 years after Thorpe’s death, the IOC in 1983 issued duplicate gold medals in his name at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Thorpe’s daughter, Charlotte, wept as she told reporters, “the marathon has finally ended.”

The IOC gesture was mostly symbolic, however, as it only added Thorpe’s name to the record books as a co-champion with the second-place finishers who had been awarded the gold medals even though Thorpe had clearly won both events.

The fight to achieve justice and fully restore the Olympic record for this great Native American athlete continues.

The New York Times in their obituary for Jim Thorpe called him “probably the greatest natural athlete the world had seen in modern times.”