The Native American Who Won Two Olympic Gold Medals – Then Had His Titles Taken Away Before History Finally Reversed The Decision

The Stockholm Olympics closed in mid-July 1912.

The protest time limit established by the Swedish Olympic Committee’s rules for the Games was three months — a provision designed to ensure that results could be challenged while the facts were fresh and the documentation was available.

Three months passed.

No protest was filed.

In early January 1913 — more than five months after the Games had ended — a reporter named Roy Johnson at the Worcester Telegram in Massachusetts published a story reporting that Jim Thorpe had played professional baseball in the minor leagues before the 1912 Olympics.

The story was accurate.