Why did Jim Thorpe have his Olympic gold medals revoked?
” A year after winning the pentathlon and the decathlon gold medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games it was revealed that Thorpe had earned $25 dollars a week playing minor league baseball in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910. The A.A.U, the American Olympic Committee and the I.O.C all moved against Thorpe and demanded the return of his medals. The two silver medalists in those events refused to accept the gold medals when they were forwarded to them by the I.O.C. On January 18, 1983, thirty years after he died, Jim Thorpe’s gold medals were presented to his children. A record 68 entrants answered correctly and Keith Cooper of St. Louis, Missouri was selected as this month’s winner. Keith receives an autographed Todd Williams promo card for his trivia talent!
