Sac and Fox Nation and the United States at the 1912 Olympic
Games in Stockholm, Sweden; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe was the first United States athlete to
win the pentathlon and the decathlon in one Olympic year; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's athletic feats and worldwide publicity
established the viability of the modern Olympic Games; and
WHEREAS, To honor his gold medals in the pentathlon and
decathlon, Jim Thorpe received gifts from King Gustaf V of
Sweden and Czar Nicholas II of Russia; and
WHEREAS, A ticker-tape parade was held in New York City upon
Jim Thorpe's return to the United States from Sweden in 1912;
and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's gold medals were revoked after he was
found to have violated strict rules regarding amateurism in
force at the time; and
WHEREAS, Jim Thorpe's gold medals were not reinstated until
1982, 30 years after his death, when the International Olympic
Committee recognized the improper application of the
disqualification procedures; and
WHEREAS, Although Jim Thorpe's gold medals were reinstated in
1982, he was not recognized as the sole gold medal winner of the
pentathlon and the decathlon events, rather he was recognized as
a co-gold medal winner with the athletes who were elevated to
gold medal status after his gold medals were revoked; therefore
be it
RESOLVED, (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
encourage the International Olympic Committee to reinstate Jim
Thorpe as the sole gold medal winner of the pentathlon and the
decathlon events of the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden;
and be it further
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