Jim Thorpe’s 1912 Olympic golds reinstated
Lausanne, July 15: Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm – nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for violations of strict amateurism rules of the time. The International Olympic Committee planned to announce the change on Friday on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe, a Native American, returned to a ticker-tape parade in New York, but months later it was discovered he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers, an infringement of the Olympic amateurism rules. He was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal. Thorpe to some remains the greatest all-around athlete ever. In 1982 – 29 years after Thorpe’s death – the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family but his Olympic records were not reinstated, nor was his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events. Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912. The IOC had listed him as a co-champion in the official record book. (AP)
Tokyo to host 2025 track world championships
Eugene, July 15: Track and field officials awarded the 2025 world championships to Tokyo on Thursday, bringing runners, jumpers and throwers back to the home of last year’s Olympics, where they competed in front of mostly empty stands. The World Athletics Council awarded the championships in a bidding contest that also included Nairobi, Kenya; Silesia, Poland; and Singapore. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said it was a close vote, but Japan won on the strength of, among other things, “human resource” available in Tokyo to put on the event and strong commercial partnerships. He did not rule out the possibility of track’s marquee event someday making it to Kenya or another country in Africa – a continent that has never held the event. (AP)
French cyclist out of Tour after positive COVID test
LE BOURG-D’OISANS (FRANCE), July 15: French climber Warren Barguil has been forced out of the Tour de France after testing positive for COVID-19. Barguil’s Arkea-Samsic team said in a statement ahead of Friday’s Stage 13 that his seven teammates all tested negative. It’s the second straight year that Barguil, who injured his right hip and shoulder in a crash on Thursday, abandoned the three-week race. He was 24th in the general classification, nearly 43 minutes behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard. Barguil came to prominence on the 2017 Tour when he posted two stage wins and claimed the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey. (AP)
143 players picked in season one draft of Kho Kho League
Pune, July 15: South Asian Games medallist Pratik Waikar star pole diver Pothireddy Sivareddy were among the 143 players who were picked by six franchises for the inaugural Ultimate Kho Kho League slated at Balewadi here from August 14-September 24. 240 players from 28 states and Union Territories were divided into four categories – A, B, C and D – according to their performances at International and National levels. 77 out of 143 top players from category A were offered Rs 5 Lakh that include the likes of Waikar, Pothireddy Sivareddy, M Vignesh, and Gowtham MK. (PTI)