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SPORTS
The Plain Dealer
Saturday
November 10, 1979
Page 1-C

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Jim Thorpe, 1919
Canton Bulldogs

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Thorpe and his daughter, Grace, in 1926

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Thorpe's decathlon and pentathlon gold medals

Thorpe crusade
National drive gets under way here to restore the athlete's Olympic medals

By Tony Grossi

The 66-year battle to restore Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals and trophies will get a shot in the arm tonight when the Ohio Jaycees launch a national campaign to clear the injustices rendered "the world's greatest athlete."
 
With Thorpe's daughters, Grace and Gail, in attendance, the Jaycees will announce at a program in the Cleveland Plaza Hotel tonight at 9 their resolution to pressure the U.S. and International Olympic Committees.
 
The national petition drive was motivated by the return of the Winter Olympic Games to America after a 42-year absence. The Winter Olympics begin in Lake Placid, N.Y. Feb. 13.
 
Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Indian, was the hero of the 1912 Olympic Games at Stockholm, Sweden. He won both the decathlon and the pentathlon and was told by King Gustav V of Sweden: "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world."
 
Thorpe came back from Stockholm with $50,000 worth of trophies. They included a Viking ship, presented by the Czar of Russia and a bronze bust of the King of Sweden.
 
In 1913 the Olympic Committee and the Amateur Athletic Union stripped Thorpe of his medals, trophies, records, and amateur status after it was revealed that during 1909 and 1910 he played summer baseball for $60 per month.
 
Continued on Page 2-C

Thorpe's medals
From First Sports Page

The AAU has since restored Thorpe's amateur status, but the Olympic Committee stands pat. Thorpe's two gold medals are kept in the National Sport Museum of Sweden and the trophies, now priceless, rest in the International Olympic Committee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
 
Thorpe, also a Hall of Fame running back and a major league outfielder, died of a heart attack in 1953 at the age of 64.
 
A month ago both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed unanimously a bull to reinstate the Olympic records and return the medals and trophies of Thorpe to his family.
 
Still, the Olympic Committee refuses to budge.
 
Jack Craciun, special projects chairman of the Ohio Jaycees, expects to get at least one million signatures from Ohioans alone. With 400,000 Jaycees in the United States, Craciun believes the total number of petition-signers may approach 40 million.
 
Craciun said the international jaycees organization is meeting in Sweden this weekend "informing everyone what we're doing."