Decathlon, Men
| Date | 13 – 15 July 1912 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm | |
| Participants | 29 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by 1912B point tables. The order of events was as follows: Day 1 (13 July) - 100 metres, Long jump, Shot put; Day 2 (14 July) - High jump, 400 metres, Discus throw, 110 metre hurdles; Day 3 (15 July) - Pole vault, Javelin throw, 1,500 metres. | |
Prior to 1911, the multi-event for track & field athletes was the all-around championship, a 10-event competition emphasizing strength events. But in preparation for the 1912 Olympics, the Swedes devised another 10-event multi-event with more emphasis placed on speed and jumping ability. The first known competitions in the decathlon were conducted on 15 October 1911, both in Münster, Germany (won by Karl von Halt) and Göteberg, Sweden (won by Hugo Wieslander). In June 1912, Wieslander won two further Swedish decathlons in preparation for the Olympic Games. He was the Swedish favorite.
The American favorite was a remarkable Native American named Jim Thorpe. A descendant of the Sac and Fox tribe and an Irish father, Thorpe had starred in both football and baseball, as well as track, at the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had never competed in a decathlon prior to Stockholm, but at the eastern U.S. Olympic Trial in the pentathlon, he was so dominant that he was named to represent the United States in both the decathlon and the pentathlon. The Stockholm decathlon was expected to be a closely fought contest between Wieslander and Thorpe.
It was not. One week after winning the pentathlon, Jim Thorpe won the decathlon by an almost laughable margin, establishing a new world record, and defeating Wieslander by almost 700 points. He won three events, had one second place, four thirds, and two fourths in the ten events. Using point-for-place scoring, he scored 25 points to Wieslander’s 67 and Charles Lomberg’s 75.
At the closing ceremonies, Thorpe was presented his trophies by Sweden’s King Gustav V. The legend is that the King told him, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world,” and that Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King.” Whether the legend is true or not, the King was correct. But from 1913 until 1982 the Olympic record books invariably listed Hugo Wieslander as the 1912 Olympic decathlon champion.
In January 1913, newspaper stories broke noting that Jim Thorpe had played minor league baseball in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910. The United States AAU reacted quickly and declared Thorpe a professional. The IOC followed suit. Thorpe’s Olympic victories were taken from him and he was ordered to return his medals and trophies.
But the story never died. For years, many efforts were made to right what many perceived as a wrong and have the medals, the trophies, and the recognition returned to Jim Thorpe or his family. The trophies included the Challenge Trophy for the decathlon, which had been donated by the Czar of Russia. In 1982, the International Olympic Committee made partial restitution when they restored Thorpe’s amateur status, and declared him, in an unusual ruling, co-champion with Hugo Wieslander.
The story of Thorpe’s disqualification, the many attempts to restore his name, and the final work done which succeeded, is a long and complicated one. See the Jim Thorpe bio for further details. However, the official announcement from the IOC on 15 July 2022 is as follows: “On 15 July 2022, on the day of the 110th anniversary of Thorpe’s medal in decathlon, the IOC announced its decision to display the name of Jim Thorpe as the sole gold medallist in pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games Stockholm 1912. The IOC explained in its communication that this development was possible after the engagement of the Bright Path Strong organisation, supported by IOC Member Anita DeFrantz, who had contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) and the surviving family members of Hugo K. Wieslander, who had been named as the gold medallist in decathlon when Thorpe was stripped of his medals in 1913. The family had confirmed that Wieslander himself had never accepted the Olympic gold medal allocated to him, and had always been of the opinion that Jim Thorpe was the sole legitimate Olympic gold medallist. The same declaration was received from the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, whose athlete, Ferdinand Bie, was named as the gold medallist when Thorpe was stripped of the pentathlon title.”
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Points | Points (1912B Tables) | Points (1934 Tables) | Points (1952 Tables) | Points (1962 Tables) | Points (1985 Hand Tables) | 100 metres | Long Jump | Shot Put | High Jump | 400 metres | Discus Throw | 110 metres Hurdles | Pole Vault | Javelin Throw | 1,500 metres | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Jim Thorpe |  USA | 8412.955 | 7751.060 | 6971 | 6267 | 6756 | 6564 | 11.2 | 6.79 | 12.89 | 1.87 | 52.2 | 36.98 | 15.6 | 3.25 | 45.70 | 4:40.1 | Gold | 1 | |
| 2 | – | Hugo Wieslander |  SWE | 7724.495 | 7062.600 | 6220 | 5377 | 6161 | 5966 | 11.8 | 6.42 | 12.14 | 1.75 | 53.6 | 36.29 | 17.2 | 3.10 | 50.40 | 4:45.0 | Silver | 2 | |
| 3 | – | Charles Lomberg | SWE | 7413.510 | 6751.615 | 5965 | 5089 | 5943 | 5722 | 11.8 | 6.87 | 11.67 | 1.80 | 55.0 | 35.35 | 17.6 | 3.25 | 41.83 | 5:12.2 | Silver | ||
| 4 | – | Gösta Holmér | SWE | 7347.855 | 6685.960 | 5955 | 5161 | 5956 | 5768 | 11.4 | 5.98 | 10.98 | 1.70 | 53.2 | 31.78 | 17.0 | 3.20 | 46.28 | 4:41.9 | Bronze | ||
| 5 | – | Jim Donahue | USA | 7083.450 | 6421.555 | 5854 | 5113 | 5836 | 5701 | 11.8 | 6.48 | 9.67 | 1.65 | 51.6 | 29.95 | 16.2 | 3.40 | 37.09 | 4:44.0 | |||
| 6 | – | Roy Mercer | USA | 7074.995 | 6413.100 | 6030 | 5385 | 5927 | 5825 | 11.0 | 6.84 | 9.76 | 1.65 | 49.9 | 21.95 | 16.4 | 3.60 | 32.32 | 4:46.3 | |||
| 7 | – | Valdemar Wickholm |  FIN | 7058.795 | 6396.900 | 5758 | 4979 | 5778 | 5613 | 11.5 | 5.95 | 11.09 | 1.60 | 52.3 | 29.78 | 17.0 | 3.25 | 42.58 | 4:43.9 | |||
| 8 | – | Erik Kugelberg | SWE | 6758.780 | 6096.885 | 5432 | 4577 | 5499 | 5345 | 12.3 | 6.20 | 9.98 | 1.65 | 55.7 | 31.48 | 17.2 | 3.00 | 45.67 | 4:43.5 | |||
| 9 | – | Karl von Halt |  GER | 6682.445 | 6020.550 | 5389 | 4499 | 5458 | 5286 | 12.1 | 6.08 | 11.12 | 1.70 | 54.2 | 35.46 | 17.7 | 2.70 | 39.82 | 5:02.8 | |||
| 10 | – | Josef Schäffer |  AUT | 6568.585 | 5906.690 | 5199 | 4246 | 5269 | 5049 | 12.3 | 6.04 | 11.50 | 1.55 | 58.2 | 37.14 | 18.9 | 3.25 | 41.06 | 5:05.3 | |||
| 11 | – | Aleksandr Schultz |  RUS | 6134.470 | 5472.575 | 4978 | 4119 | 5094 | 4973 | 12.3 | 5.75 | 10.08 | 1.55 | 54.6 | 31.34 | 17.8 | 2.70 | 38.99 | 4:46.4 | |||
| 12 | – | Alfrēds Alslēbens | RUS | 5294.615 | 4762.320 | 4230 | 3472 | 4349 | 4329 | 12.2 | 6.27 | 8.48 | 1.70 | 59.0 | 29.21 | 19.5 | – | 37.34 | 5:08.6 | |||
| – | George Philbrook | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.4 | 6.34 | 12.79 | 1.80 | 56.7 | 41.56 | 16.8 | 2.50 | 41.67 | – | ||||
| – | Ferdinand Bie |  NOR | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.7 | 6.69 | 10.20 | 1.65 | 53.2 | 31.65 | 16.4 | 2.90 | 48.52 | – | ||||
| – | Frank Lukeman |  CAN | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.2 | 6.14 | 9.29 | 1.75 | 52.1 | 30.52 | 16.3 | 2.70 | – | – | ||||
| – | Avery Brundage | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.2 | 6.40 | 11.12 | 1.70 | 55.2 | 34.07 | 17.1 | 2.90 | – | – | ||||
| – | Géo André |  FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.6 | 5.60 | 9.90 | 1.75 | 54.5 | 25.37 | 16.4 | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Alfredo Pagani |  ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.4 | 5.83 | 9.67 | 1.65 | 56.1 | 30.20 | 17.2 | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Einar Nilsson | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.5 | 5.72 | 12.83 | 1.70 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Otto Röhr | GER | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.3 | 6.43 | 9.81 | 1.70 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Skotte Jacobsson | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.0 | 6.46 | 9.35 | 1.55 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Gunnar Rönström | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.3 | 5.99 | 10.69 | 1.60 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Alex Abraham | GER | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.0 | 5.52 | 11.29 | 1.50 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Pierre Failliot | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.3 | 6.05 | 10.54 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Harry Babcock | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11.6 | 6.29 | 10.16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Svend Langkjær |  DEN | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.0 | 5.89 | 9.86 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Viktor Hackberg | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.5 | 5.64 | 10.30 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Manlio Legat | ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12.1 | 5.56 | 8.23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Mkrtich Mkryan |  TUR | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13.3 | 5.43 | 11.05 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Eugene Schobinger | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Jørgen Kornerup-Bang | DEN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Clément Mentrel | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Emmanuel Tsaloumas |  GRE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Giulio Alvisi | ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Furio Bini | ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Paul Fournelle |  LUX | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Nicolas Kanive | LUX | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Jean-Pierre Thommes | LUX | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Jindřich Jirsák |  BOH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | André Fouache | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Raoul Paoli | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Josef Waitzer | GER | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Kostas Tsiklitiras | GRE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Ulrich Baasch | RUS | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Julius Wagner |  SUI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Bertil Uggla | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Boris Honzátko | BOH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Dick Byrd | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Jack Eller | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Austin Menaul | USA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |