Researching a recent article about Swedish history, I was reminded of some very significant U.S. history. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Jim Thorpe (1887-1953), a Native American of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma, made history when he won two gold medals, one in the pentathlon and one in the decathlon. According to an article in Smithsonian magazine, "When King Gustaf V of Sweden placed two gold medals around Thorpe’s neck for winning the Olympic pentathlon and decathlon and pronounced him the greatest athlete in the world, he famously muttered, 'Thanks'..." (source: https://tinyurl.com/y359szzw) Tragically, the following year, Thorpe was stripped of those titles when it was decided that his previous involvement in professional baseball violated Olympic rules of the time requiring that athletes were amateurs. Thirty years after his death, Thorpe's titles were reinstated, and the official website of the Olympics now features the following statement: "Though he died in poverty, Jim Thorpe is remembered as one of the greatest sportsmen of the 20th century, having won two Olympic track and field golds and played baseball, American football and basketball at the highest level." (source: https://www.olympic.org/jim-thorpe) Image: Public domain image entitled "Jim Thorpe at the 1912 Summer Olympics" and dated July 23, 1912, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. My article about the 1912 Stockholm Olympics can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yxpvwwur (please note that it is subscriber content). #JimThorpe #1912Olympics #Stockholm #history https://www.instagram.com/victoriamartinezwriter/p/Bw2EWuvpyRg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=igt4w5hr4rsh