# Jim Thorpe **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997 "2000-01-22T01:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/1 "2000-01-22T06:34:00Z")
Does anyone know of a good, recent biography of Jim Thorpe that isn’t written for kids? Can’t seem to find one–may have to write one myself. Bucky * * * Oh, well. We can always make more killbots. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/2 "2000-01-22T01:05:00Z")
I haven’t read either of these, but the L.A. Library lists _Jim Thorpe, Legendary Athlete_, by Barbara Long (1997) and _Jim Thorpe_ by Don Nardo (1994). They provided a separte “Juvenile” list and these two books were on the other, presumably, “adult” list. He certainly had a life worth writing about, to put it mildly. _I_ think he was the greatest athlete of the 20th century, not Michael Jordan. Thorpe excelled in many sports, Jordan in just one. * * * \>\< DARWIN \> \_\_ **L\_\_\_L** ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/3 "2000-01-22T22:13:00Z")
I understand that Jim Thorpe lost his Olympic medals because he was an American Indian. (Avery Brundage–a candidate for the Sports Hall of Shame–was a losing competitor against Thorpe in the Stockholm Olympics in 1912, and when Brundage became head of the USOC he got revenge by refusing to reinsitate Thorpe during his lifetime.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/4 "2000-01-22T23:08:00Z")
No, he was stripped of his medals for violating the rules requiring that all competitors be amateurs. He played semi-pro baseball one summer IIRC. His victories have since regained recognition from the IOC. * * * Sue from El Paso Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/5 "2000-01-22T23:15:00Z")
No, they didn’t take his medals away because he was an Indian - they took them because Jim had played some semi-pro baseball and had been paid (not much, but paid all the same). Thus, he lost his “amateur” standing and lost his medals. His amateur status was reinstated in the 1980’s and his Olympic gold medals were presented to his family in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/6 "2000-01-22T23:31:00Z")
I don’t believe the “amateur” rule has been consistently enforced. David Wallechinsky took this topic up once in a book about the Olympics. Whose ox was gored? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/7 "2022-07-15T13:59:12Z")
> [@aseymayo](#): > > No, they didn’t take his medals away because he was an Indian - they took them because Jim had played some semi-pro baseball and had been paid (not much, but paid all the same). Thus, he lost his “amateur” standing and lost his medals. Well, a bit of a zombie (but only 22 years): > **[Thorpe reinstated as sole winner in 1912 events](https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/34245374/ioc-reinstates-jim-thorpe-sole-winner-1912-olympic-decathlon-pentathlon)** > > Jim Thorpe, stripped of two gold medals because he'd been paid to play minor league baseball, was reinstated by the IOC on Thursday as the sole winner of the decathlon and pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/8 "2022-07-15T14:41:25Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I don’t believe the “amateur” rule has been consistently enforced. David Wallechinsky took this topic up once in a book about the Olympics. Whose ox was gored? ☹ The story is that he played some semi-pro baseball under his own name while others simply used aliases. But why he was exposed is open to question, it was likely blatant discrimination against American Indians at the time. He was not considered an American citizen at the time of the Olympics in 1912, citizenship would come later for all American Indians from the Indian Citizenship Act. I think this more likely domestic politics than international in sentiment based on his ethnicity, but other countries might look for any way to take advantage of the situation. The possible involvement of Avery Brundage should not be a surprise to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-thorpe/12997/9 "2022-07-15T21:10:28Z")
Is 22 years the record for a bump?