James Thorpe at the Olympics
Biography and Olympic Results

James Thorpe from $nation
Facts about James Thorpe in Athletics
In the years before World War I American Jim Thorpe was considered one of the worlds leading sports athletes.

James Francis Thorpe was presumably born on 28th of May 1888, although there is no sure evidence. He was half Indian, born in a reserve in Oklahoma and known by his Indian name "Wa tho Huck" which means Bright Path. Jim Thorpe was an incredible sporting talent and in addition to his athletic career he also became a star in baseball, basketball and american football. Jim Thorpe is a serious contender for the unofficial title as the best athlete at the Olympic Games of all time.

Jim Thorpe only attended once at the Olympic Games. It was in Stockholm in 1912, and as expected he won gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon, two new disciplines in athletics at the Olympics in Stockholm. Besides the two gold medals, he was fourth in high jump and seventh in long jump.

In Stockholm, Jim Thorpe participated for the first - and only - time in a decathlon. He was crushingly superior, and his world record stood for 16 years before it was surpassed. Thorpe was so far ahead of his time that his performance could have given him a silver medal at the Olympics in 1948, 36 years later.

Unfortunately, the story about Jim Thorpe doesn't end with his impressive Olympic performances in Stockholm. In 1913 it was made public that Thorpe in 1910 had participated in baseball matches in a professional league. When this came to the knowledge of the IOC, Thorpe was declared professional during the Olympics in Stockholm - although he was certainly not conscious of having violated any rules - and his two gold medals were taken back.

These gold medals were instead handed over to the Swede Hugo Wieslander in the decathlon and the Norwegian Ferdinand Bie in the pentathlon. They were not satisfied with the decision and have both stated that they considered Thorpe to be the Olympic champion. Years later they both handed over their medals to sports museums in their respective countries.

In the years following the disqualification many attempts were made to make the IOC overturn their decision, but not until 1982 - 70 years after the Olympics in Stockholm and 30 years after Jim Thorpe's death - the IOC were convinced that an injustice had been committed to one of history's greatest sports figures. During an IOC meeting in Los Angeles on January 18 1983 Jim Thorpe's children received two new gold medals. An old mistake was corrected - and then not quite. The IOC decided that there should be a shared Olympic championship between Thorpe and Wieslander in the decathlon and with Bie in the pentathlon. In the official results lists for the Olympics in Stockholm, there is therefore listed two gold medal winners in each of the disciplines.

$athlete_name - Results in the Olympic Games

Event

Position

Result

Facts about $athlete_name in Olympic $sport_name Stockholm 1912 - Athletics
Decathlon M Final .$athlete_name gold medals in the Olympics.8412WR
High jump M Final 41,87
Qualification 11,83q
Long jump M Final 76,89
Pentathlon M Final .$athlete_name gold medals in the Olympics.7


This information about James Thorpe is based on the official Olympic reports and the Olympian Database.
English flagDanish flag

Olympics
Facts & Information

All-time Medal Table All-time Medal Table Olympic Games

Olympic Sports Database Olympic Sports

Nations in the Olympics
Nations in the Olympics

Future Olympics Future Olympics
 
Copyright & Disclaimer    Sportsencyclo    Privacy policy