The Spark

Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals restored 110 years later


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Jim Thorpe, whose athletic career and fame began at the Carlisle Indian School, has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm — nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for violations of strict amateurism rules of the time.

The International Olympic Committee announced the change Friday on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.”

Robert Wheeler is author of the book Jim Thorpe: World Greatest Athlete and Co-Founder with his wife Dr. Florence Ridlon of the Jim Thorpe Foundation has been credited with getting Thorpe's medals restored, appears on Monday's Smart Talk to discuss Thorpe, the Olympics and his time in Carlisle.

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