This can be a piece from Jeff Benjamin on Jim Thorpe and his AAU Corridor of Fame Induction video. Jeff Benjamin has inspired the motion to provide Jim Thorpe the popularity that he deserved. Jeff has been speaking about this AAU Corridor of Fame ceremony ever because it occurred.
Spotlight Of 2023 -An AAU Corridor Of Fame Induction For Jim Thorpe
by Jeff Benjamin
“The actual standards for making it to our Corridor is that, at one time, you held an AAU card from the Center Atlantic. Jim Thorpe would have gone in earlier, however we needed to monitor down his AAU information. When he was within the Carlisle College, he ran within the AAU meets…so he had a Center Atlantic AAU card.”
– Mid-Atlantic AAU District Director Alison Eachus
In June of 2023, one other assertion to the greatness, in addition to the over 100 years of injustices, in the direction of Jim Thorpe was rectified, and it could very effectively be the final one which lastly “closes the ebook.”
In 1983, the Worldwide Olympic Committee restored Thorpe’s 1912 Olympic Pentathlon & Decathlon Gold medals to his household (Thorpe died in 1952).
In 2021, the IOC lastly reinstated Thorpe because the SOLE champion in each Olympic occasions within the official report books.
Lastly, using alongside on the wave of those fantastic occasions was the induction of Thorpe into the Mid-Atlantic AAU Corridor of Fame. The occasion passed off earlier than a crowd of some hundred individuals, notably youth AAU members which was held on the outskirts of Philadelphia on the Conshohocken Marriott.
1952 Olympic Steeple Gold Medalist Horace Ashenfelter and 1912 Olympian J.E. ‘Ted’ Meredith have been inducted through the Corridor of Fame banquet, in addition to former WNBA and College of Tennesse basketball star Michelle Marciniak.
Juaquin Hamilton Youngbird, the Ambassador of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, and Johanna Smith, Library/Archival Tech, Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, have been on the ceremony to simply accept Thorpe’s award, which was a very long time coming.
“Justice has positively been restored to Jim Thorpe tonight,” stated Youngbird. “His story will at all times encourage future generations.”
“Jim Thorpe’s story is one among dedication,”
stated AAU President Jo Mirza. “It stands as a lesson to younger athletes.”
Bell lap – Along with the Corridor of Fame inductees, over $27,000 in scholarships have been awarded to eight deserving student-athletes…This author is as soon as once more grateful for the assistance and help of Thorpe aficionados and students Bob Wheeler & Flo Ridlon!