1912 Stockholm Summer Games
2,547 Athletes, 29 Countries, 102 Events
The 1912 Stockholm Games are considered the most efficient and
organized of that time. They were also the most diverse as the
first art and literature competitions were held at the 1912 Games,
awarding medals just like the sporting events.
The most notable competitor at the Stockholm Games was
undoubtedly American Jim Thorpe. Thorpe, part
Native American, part Irish, won the pentathlon and decathlon. His
decathlon performance was so magnificent that it would have earned
him a silver medal at the 1948 London Games. The King of Sweden
called Thorpe, "The greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe
replied, "Thanks, King."
Unfortunately, it was later discovered that Thorpe played minor
league baseball, violating the IOC's amateur laws. His medals were
taken away in 1913, not to be returned until vast pleas led to the
IOC lifting Thorpe's ban in 1982. Thorpe, also proficient in
football, led his tiny Carlisle Indian School to victory over
Harvard in 1911 by a score of 18-15. Thorpe was responsible for all
of Carlisle's 18 points on four field goals and a touchdown.
Twenty-three Ancient Eight athletes traveled to Stockholm,
joining Thorpe for the Games. For the first time in Olympic
history, all eight schools were represented in a single Games.
Norman Stephen Taber (Brown '13) and Tel
Berna (Cornell '12) teamed up with George
Bonhag to win the gold medal in the 3,000-meter team race.
Berna ran the fastest time, 8:44.6, with Taber coming in third.
Taber would later become a life trustee at Brown.
Ivies came on top in the pole vault (Harry
Babcock, Columbia '12) and high jump (Alma
Richards, Cornell '17). In addition, Lawrence A.
Whitney (Dartmouth '15) won the bronze in the shot put,
while his teammate Marc S. Wright (Dartmouth '13)
placed second in the pole vault. A Yalie, Clarence
Childs '12, placed third in the hammer throw.
Penn fielded formidable competition in the track and field
events. Don Lippincott '15 won the bronze in the
100-meter dash. He went on to win the silver medal in the 200-meter
competition with a time of 21.8, exactly doubling his 100-meter
dash mark. For many years, Lippincott held the title of "World's
Fastest Human."
Lippincott's teammate, James E. Ted Meredith,
won two gold medals at the Stockholm Games. His first came in the
800-meter race, where the top three finishers all broke the world
record. Meredith finished on top with a time of 1:51.9, a record
that lasted until the 1928 Amsterdam Games. He helped set another
world record in the 4x400-meter relay, with a gold medal time of
3:16.6.
| Name |
School |
Sport |
| Norman Stephen Taber |
Brown University |
Men's Athletics |
| Harry Babcock |
Columbia University |
Men's Athletics |
| Tel Berna |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| David Caldwell |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Gordon Dukes |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Howard Fritz |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| E. J. Gignoux |
Cornell University |
Men's Fencing |
| John Paul Jones |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Herbert Putnam |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Alma Richards |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Harold B. Enright |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| Lawrence A. Whitney |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| Harry T. Worthington |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| Marc S. Wright |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| George H. Breed |
Harvard University |
Men's Fencing |
| Edward L. Farrell |
Harvard University |
Men's Athletics |
| John O. Johnstone |
Harvard University |
Men's Athletics |
| Jervis Burdick |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Michael Dorizas |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Donald F. Lippincott |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Louis C. Madeira, III |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Wallace M. McCurdy |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Dr. E. Leroy Mercer |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| James E. 'Ted' Meredith |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Rupert Thomas |
Princeton University |
Men's Athletics |
| Clarence Childs |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |
| Arthur McAleenan |
Yale University |
Men's Diving |
| Wesley Oler, Jr. |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |