The Final Saga of the Jim Thorpe Restoration
09/23/2022
Jim Thorpe was an AAU athlete who represented the US in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon and his medals have finally been restored.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- After duplicate Olympic gold medals were given to Jim Thorpe’s children in 1983, many people thought he was totally reinstated. However there was more work to be done. The Jim Thorpe Foundation, co-founded by Robert Wheeler and Florence Ridlon, had been working to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reinstate Thorpe since the beginning of 1982 and had located the “Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912: Programme and General Regulations,” which the IOC had told them did not exist, steadfastly saying there were no written rules for the 1912 Games.
This discovery finally convinced the IOC to make a decision to “reinstate” Thorpe after being shown the evidence by William Simon, President of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). This booklet contained Rule 13, which states: “Objections to the qualification of a competitor must be made in writing, and be forwarded without delay to the Swedish Olympic Committee. No such objection shall be entertained unless accompanied by a deposit of 20 Swedish Kronor and received by the Swedish Olympic Committee before the lapse of 30 days from the distribution of the prizes.” Thorpe’s eligibility was not questioned until over six months after he was declared the winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympics.
Once it was realized that the IOC intended to list Thorpe as a co-champion for both the pentathlon and decathlon, both of which he won handily by unprecedented margins, The Jim Thorpe Foundation and its board members continued to send letters to the IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, to argue the case for full restoration and sole championship for Thorpe but to no avail. William Simon, who had been an invaluable asset to the Foundation because of his personal relationship with President Samaranch, also continued to press for full restoration and another press campaign was mounted. Reporters were unanimously supportive of the full restoration.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) had reinstated Thorpe as an amateur in 1973 and the USOC did the same in 1975, clearing the way for the IOC to fully reinstate him. In 1997, when several high school students made Keith Noll, National Chair of both the AAU’s football and hockey programs, aware of the fact that Thorpe’s AAU medals had never been returned, Noll, with the unanimous approval of the AAU's Board of Directors, respectfully invited all of Jim’s children and grandchildren to a formal ceremony at the Lac Courte Oreilles Convention Center where they were presented replicas of their father’s medals. This has always been a passion project for Noll, and he refers to assisting in the full reinstatement of Jim Thorpe as “the highlight of my career.”
In 2020, Bright Path Strong (BPS) (https://brightpathstrong.org/), an American Indian-led non-profit organization whose mission was “to continue Jim Thorpe’s legacy of community service” was founded by the production team of Thorpe, the forthcoming film about the legendary Native-American athlete. The BPS team consisted of Abraham Taylor, Chris Taylor, Nedra Darling, Josh Aker, Robert Wheeler, Florence Ridlon, Dennis Hendricks, and Chris Nielsen and their tribal partners Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, The Mohegan Tribe, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Tonto Apache Tribe, Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me-Wuk Indians of California, Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Sac & Fox Nation, Sealaska, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. One of BPS’ first goals was to fully reinstate Jim Thorpe as the sole champion of the pentathlon and decathlon of the 1912 Olympics. Honorary BPS board members include Thorpe’s granddaughters Anita Thorpe, Mary Thorpe, and Teresa Thorpe, and gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Billy Mills.
Once Donna de Varona, double Olympic gold medal winner, put BPS in touch with Anita DeFrantz, the IOC representative to the United Sates and at that time on the Executive Board of the IOC, they found a supportive person within the IOC. DeFrantz quickly grasped the issue, sympathized with the cause, and worked tirelessly to convince the IOC of the rightness of the decision to make Thorpe the sole champion. Her op-ed piece in The Washington Post was a strong plea to fully reinstate him.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), The Pro Football Hall of Fame (PFHF), and The Doug Williams Center (DWC) were all strongly supportive of BPS’ drive to fully reinstate Thorpe. None was more supportive than the AAU. They wrote articles, sent out personal appeals for petition signatures, and offered assistance in every way they could. Keith Noll and Rachel D'Orazio (AAU), Rachel Gutting (PFHF), and Brandon Logan (DWC) all used their sites to assist with the petition drive and letters were sent from the President of the AAU, Roger Goudy, and the Director of the PFHF, C. David Baker, to IOC President Thomas Bach supporting the sole championship of Thorpe. The Doug Williams Center published a lengthy case study of Jim Thorpe where Wheeler and Ridlon set out the complete rationale for full reinstatement.
Bo Landin, CEO, producer, and director at Scandinature Films, and one of the Thorpe film’s executive producers, contacted the grandchildren of the other 1912 medalists in the pentathlon and decathlon, in Sweden, Norway, Canada and the USA, and received almost unanimous support for the petition to reinstate Thorpe as the sole gold medalist. Descendants of the Wieslander and Bie families confirmed that their grandfathers both clearly and publicly, objected to Thorpe’s disqualification and did not feel they deserved to be awarded the gold medals in his place.
The IOC would fully reinstate Thorpe as the sole champion on July 15, 2022, exactly one hundred and ten years after his decathlon win and exactly two years after the founding of Bright Path Strong. In their press release of July 15, 2022, the IOC stated, “This development has been made possible by the engagement of the Bright Path Strong organization [sic.], supported by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz.” President Bach, went on to say: “We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found.”
The celebratory press coverage of the IOC decision was world-wide, including ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, The New York Times, The Times of India, interviews with the Columbian and Swedish press, and Jim Thorpe was chosen “Person of the Week” on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir on July 17, 2022.
Jim Thorpe has received more prestigious honors and awards since the restoration. On June 30, 2022, Sweden's Central Association for the Promotion of Sports (SCIF) in collaboration with the City of Stockholm inaugurated the “Walk of Fame” at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. An engraved stone commemorating Jim Thorpe's achievements at the 1912 Olympics was presented on the sidewalk outside the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, on September 17th in the presence of Jim Thorpe's grandchildren, Mary Thorpe and John Thorpe, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Erik D. Ramanathan, and with Bo Landin, Robert Wheeler, and Florence Ridlon in attendance representing Bright Path Strong. The stones are meant to draw attention to unique events at the Stadium.
On the same day, a World Athletics Heritage Plaque which is a location-based recognition award for “an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out-of-stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking” was mounted and unveiled on the stadium wall in honor of Jim Thorpe.
(Photo courtesy of Bo Landin) Bo Landin, Flo Ridlon, Mary Thorpe, and Bob Wheeler admiring the engraved stone for Jim Thorpe on the Walk of Fame outside the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden
This discovery finally convinced the IOC to make a decision to “reinstate” Thorpe after being shown the evidence by William Simon, President of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). This booklet contained Rule 13, which states: “Objections to the qualification of a competitor must be made in writing, and be forwarded without delay to the Swedish Olympic Committee. No such objection shall be entertained unless accompanied by a deposit of 20 Swedish Kronor and received by the Swedish Olympic Committee before the lapse of 30 days from the distribution of the prizes.” Thorpe’s eligibility was not questioned until over six months after he was declared the winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympics.
Once it was realized that the IOC intended to list Thorpe as a co-champion for both the pentathlon and decathlon, both of which he won handily by unprecedented margins, The Jim Thorpe Foundation and its board members continued to send letters to the IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, to argue the case for full restoration and sole championship for Thorpe but to no avail. William Simon, who had been an invaluable asset to the Foundation because of his personal relationship with President Samaranch, also continued to press for full restoration and another press campaign was mounted. Reporters were unanimously supportive of the full restoration.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) had reinstated Thorpe as an amateur in 1973 and the USOC did the same in 1975, clearing the way for the IOC to fully reinstate him. In 1997, when several high school students made Keith Noll, National Chair of both the AAU’s football and hockey programs, aware of the fact that Thorpe’s AAU medals had never been returned, Noll, with the unanimous approval of the AAU's Board of Directors, respectfully invited all of Jim’s children and grandchildren to a formal ceremony at the Lac Courte Oreilles Convention Center where they were presented replicas of their father’s medals. This has always been a passion project for Noll, and he refers to assisting in the full reinstatement of Jim Thorpe as “the highlight of my career.”
In 2020, Bright Path Strong (BPS) (https://brightpathstrong.org/), an American Indian-led non-profit organization whose mission was “to continue Jim Thorpe’s legacy of community service” was founded by the production team of Thorpe, the forthcoming film about the legendary Native-American athlete. The BPS team consisted of Abraham Taylor, Chris Taylor, Nedra Darling, Josh Aker, Robert Wheeler, Florence Ridlon, Dennis Hendricks, and Chris Nielsen and their tribal partners Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, The Mohegan Tribe, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Tonto Apache Tribe, Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me-Wuk Indians of California, Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Sac & Fox Nation, Sealaska, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. One of BPS’ first goals was to fully reinstate Jim Thorpe as the sole champion of the pentathlon and decathlon of the 1912 Olympics. Honorary BPS board members include Thorpe’s granddaughters Anita Thorpe, Mary Thorpe, and Teresa Thorpe, and gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Billy Mills.
Once Donna de Varona, double Olympic gold medal winner, put BPS in touch with Anita DeFrantz, the IOC representative to the United Sates and at that time on the Executive Board of the IOC, they found a supportive person within the IOC. DeFrantz quickly grasped the issue, sympathized with the cause, and worked tirelessly to convince the IOC of the rightness of the decision to make Thorpe the sole champion. Her op-ed piece in The Washington Post was a strong plea to fully reinstate him.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), The Pro Football Hall of Fame (PFHF), and The Doug Williams Center (DWC) were all strongly supportive of BPS’ drive to fully reinstate Thorpe. None was more supportive than the AAU. They wrote articles, sent out personal appeals for petition signatures, and offered assistance in every way they could. Keith Noll and Rachel D'Orazio (AAU), Rachel Gutting (PFHF), and Brandon Logan (DWC) all used their sites to assist with the petition drive and letters were sent from the President of the AAU, Roger Goudy, and the Director of the PFHF, C. David Baker, to IOC President Thomas Bach supporting the sole championship of Thorpe. The Doug Williams Center published a lengthy case study of Jim Thorpe where Wheeler and Ridlon set out the complete rationale for full reinstatement.
Bo Landin, CEO, producer, and director at Scandinature Films, and one of the Thorpe film’s executive producers, contacted the grandchildren of the other 1912 medalists in the pentathlon and decathlon, in Sweden, Norway, Canada and the USA, and received almost unanimous support for the petition to reinstate Thorpe as the sole gold medalist. Descendants of the Wieslander and Bie families confirmed that their grandfathers both clearly and publicly, objected to Thorpe’s disqualification and did not feel they deserved to be awarded the gold medals in his place.
The IOC would fully reinstate Thorpe as the sole champion on July 15, 2022, exactly one hundred and ten years after his decathlon win and exactly two years after the founding of Bright Path Strong. In their press release of July 15, 2022, the IOC stated, “This development has been made possible by the engagement of the Bright Path Strong organization [sic.], supported by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz.” President Bach, went on to say: “We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found.”
The celebratory press coverage of the IOC decision was world-wide, including ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, The New York Times, The Times of India, interviews with the Columbian and Swedish press, and Jim Thorpe was chosen “Person of the Week” on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir on July 17, 2022.
Jim Thorpe has received more prestigious honors and awards since the restoration. On June 30, 2022, Sweden's Central Association for the Promotion of Sports (SCIF) in collaboration with the City of Stockholm inaugurated the “Walk of Fame” at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. An engraved stone commemorating Jim Thorpe's achievements at the 1912 Olympics was presented on the sidewalk outside the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, on September 17th in the presence of Jim Thorpe's grandchildren, Mary Thorpe and John Thorpe, the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Erik D. Ramanathan, and with Bo Landin, Robert Wheeler, and Florence Ridlon in attendance representing Bright Path Strong. The stones are meant to draw attention to unique events at the Stadium.
On the same day, a World Athletics Heritage Plaque which is a location-based recognition award for “an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out-of-stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking” was mounted and unveiled on the stadium wall in honor of Jim Thorpe.
(Photo courtesy of Bo Landin) Bo Landin, Flo Ridlon, Mary Thorpe, and Bob Wheeler admiring the engraved stone for Jim Thorpe on the Walk of Fame outside the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden
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