decathlon gold medal
07/15/1912 AD won
Thorpe's final event was the decathlon. He placed in the top four in all ten events, and his Olympic record of 8,413 points stood for nearly two decades. Even more remarkable, because someone had stolen his shoes just before he was due to compete, he found a mismatched pair of replacements, including one from a trash can, and won the gold medal wearing them.
Overall, Thorpe won eight of the 15 individual events comprising the pentathlon and decathlon. Strong competition from local favorite Hugo Wieslander was expected. Thorpe, however, defeated Wieslander by 688 points.
As was the custom of the day, the medals were presented to the athletes during the closing ceremonies of the games. Along with the two gold medals, Thorpe also received two challenge prizes, which were donated by King Gustav V of Sweden for the decathlon and Czar Nicholas II of Russia for the pentathlon.
Several sources recount that, when awarding Thorpe his prize, King Gustav said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world", to which Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King". Thorpe biographer Kate Buford suggests that the story is apocryphal, as she believes that such a comment "would have been out of character for a man who was highly uncomfortable in public ceremonies and hated to stand out." The anecdote appeared in newspapers by 1948, 36 years after his appearance in the Olympics and time for myth making, and in books as early as 1952.
Subjects Who or What won?
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Jim Thorpe American athlete who was...
Objects To Whom or What was won?
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Olympics Competition
Events in 1912 MORE
