June 15, 1912: Jim Thorpe, the Greatest Athlete In the World

June 15, 1912: Jim Thorpe wins the Olympic decathlon, and is proclaimed the greatest athlete in the world.

The 24-year-old native of Oklahoma, a member of the Sac and Fox tribe of Native Americans, had already starred in football for the Carlisle Indian School, outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He made the U.S. track & field team for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He competed in the penathlon, a 5-contest even that consisted of the long jump, the javelin throw, the 200-meter dash, the discus throw, and the 1,500-meter run. (Not to be confused with the "modern pentathlon.") He won 4 of the 5 events, to take the Gold Medal.

He then entered the decathlon, a 10-contest, 2-day event. The 1st half was contested on Saturday, June 13. Thorpe finished 3rd in the 100 meters, 3rd in the long jump, and won the shot put to take the overall lead. He won the high jump, and finished 4th in the 400 meters. At the end of the 1st day, in the unusual scoring system for the decathlon, he was over 400 points ahead of the competitor in 2nd place, Swede Charles Lomberg. Another Swede, Hugo Wieslander, was also being cheered on by the home crowd.

The 14th was a Sunday, so there was no competition. On Monday, June 15, they resumed. Traditionally, the 6th event is the 110-meter high hurdles, and the 7th is the discus throw. This time, the events were reversed. Thorpe finished 3rd in the discus, and won the hurdles. Unless he dropped out for some reason, he was no longer catchable.

He finished tied for 3rd in the pole vault. He finished 4th in the javelin throw. And he won the 1,500 meters. The final totals: Thorpe 8,412 points, Wieslander 7,724, Lomberg 7,413. Another Swede, Gösta Holmér, finished 4th. A pair of Americans, James Donahue and Eugene Mercer, finished 5th and 6th, respectively.

Thorpe was presented with his Gold Medal by the Games' host, King Gustav V of Sweden. The King was overheard saying to Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." To this, Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King." Ever since, the winner of the Olympic decathlon has been called "the world's greatest athlete."

But in 1913, the International Olympic Committee discovered that, prior to having competed in those Olympics, Thorpe had played baseball professionally. The fact that it wasn't the same sport made no difference, and the IOC stripped Thorpe of his medals.

A Gold Medal was given to 2nd-place finisher Wieslander, who had gone on to work with his country's cartography agency. He was uncomfortable with this, but it would not be until 1951 that he gave the Medal up -- not to Thorpe, but in a donation to the museum at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.

In 1950, the Associated Press named Thorpe the greatest track and field performer, the greatest football player, and the greatest overall athlete of the 1st half of the 20th Century. Their other honorees: Babe Ruth for baseball, George Mikan for basketball, Howie Morenz for hockey, Jack Dempsey for boxing, Bill Tilden -- despite his recent scandal -- for men's tennis, Suzanne Lenglen for women's tennis, and Man o' War as the greatest racehorse.

Thorpe died of cancer in 1953, having been hailed as the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th Century for his achievements in track, football and baseball, but without having his Medals restored. The next year, the Medal that Wieslander donated was stolen, and it has never been recovered. Wieslander died in 1976.

In 1982, the IOC ruled that Thorpe's disqualification had been improper -- not because he was innocent, as had freely admitted at the time that he wasn't, but because no protest against his eligibility had been brought within 30 days. Whether the original rule was fair is a separate debate (it really wasn't, especially since he hadn't turned professional in the sport in question), but he was reinstated on a technicality. and reinstated Thorpe's Medals. Copies were made, and sent to Thorpe's children.

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June 15, 1912 was, as I said, a Monday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders lost to the St. Louis Browns, 2-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Highlanders had already been called the Yankees for a while, and made the name change official the next season.

* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at the Polo Grounds. Honus Wagner went 2-for-5.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 in 11 innings at Washington Park in Brooklyn. Zack Wheat went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves, 6-3 at the South End Grounds in Boston.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at Navin Field in Detroit. That ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938 and Tiger Stadium in 1961. Frank Baker lived up to the nickname he'd earned in the previous season's World Series, hitting a home run, part of a 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs day. Ty Cobb went 0-for-4.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Comiskey Park. Future Hall-of-Famer Ed Walsh left due to injury after 2 innings. Tris Speaker went 2-for-4 with an RBI.