Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals were stripped in January 1913 due to a violation of strict amateurism rules. This decision, rooted in discrimination and double standards, would stand as one of sports' greatest injustices for over a century.
The Discovery
Six months after Thorpe's triumphant performance at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Roy Johnson of the Worcester Telegram uncovered that Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball in North Carolina's Eastern Carolina League during the summers of 1909 and 1910.
The details were damning only by the strictest interpretation:
- Thorpe earned approximately $60 per month ($2-3 per game)
- He played 87 games over two summers
- Total earnings: approximately $360
- Unlike many college athletes, he played under his real name
Key Facts About the Scandal
The Double Standard
While Thorpe was punished, many white college athletes routinely played semi-professional sports under assumed names without consequences. Athletes from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton commonly did this, but only Thorpe—who proudly used his real name—was caught and punished.
The Violation of Rules
Ironically, the stripping of Thorpe's medals itself violated Olympic rules:
- The IOC had a 30-day protest rule for challenging results
- The revelation came 6 months after the Olympics—far past the deadline
- Protests should have been invalid based on the IOC's own regulations
- AAU President James E. Sullivan prejudged the case before any investigation
The Forced Apology
Thorpe was forced to write an apology that remains heartbreaking in its manufactured humility:
"I hope I will be excused because of the fact that I was simply an Indian school boy and did not know all about such things. I was not very wise in the ways of the world and did not realize this was wrong."
This letter was likely written by Carlisle school officials and emphasized Thorpe's supposed "ignorance" as a Native American, protecting the white administrators who knew about his semi-professional play.
The Timeline of Injustice
Those Who Refused the Stolen Gold
In a testament to sportsmanship and recognition of injustice:
- Swedish athlete Hugo Wieslander refused to accept Thorpe's decathlon gold medal
- Norwegian Ferdinand Bie refused to accept the pentathlon gold
- Both maintained throughout their lives that Thorpe was the rightful champion
The Role of Prejudice
The scandal revealed deep-seated prejudices:
- Thorpe was punished while white athletes who did the same thing faced no consequences
- Future IOC President Avery Brundage, who finished far behind Thorpe in 1912, later blocked restoration efforts
- The emphasis on Thorpe being "just an Indian school boy" highlighted racial attitudes
- No white officials who knew about the baseball playing were ever held accountable
The Lasting Impact
The stripping of Jim Thorpe's medals had profound consequences:
- Set a precedent for punishing athletes' economic necessities
- Denied Thorpe millions in potential endorsements during his prime
- Created psychological trauma that lasted his lifetime
- Removed his name from record books for 70 years
- Became a symbol of institutional racism in sports
The injustice would not be fully corrected until 2022—110 years after Thorpe's Olympic victories—when the IOC finally restored him as the sole champion of the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon.