STOCKHOLM 1912

Jim Thorpe was arguably the greatest all-round athlete of the 20th century. He was probably the unluckiest.

At an admirably organised Games which introduced electronic timing and a public address system, the awesomely talented native American won the pentathlon and the decathlon. He also gained the admiration of King Gustav of Sweden who presented Thorpe with a bust of himself and a silver chalice in the shape of a Viking ship, commenting: "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world." According to contemporary reports, Thorpe replied: "Thanks, King."

Six months after his triumph, a newspaper reported he had breached his amateur status by playing semi-professional baseball in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910. The punishment was savage. Thorpe's records were eliminated from the books, his gold medals taken away and he died a miserable death as an alcoholic in a Californian trailer park.

The other great athlete in Stockholm was the first of the flying Finns, Hannes Kolehmainen, who won the 5,000, 10,000 and cross-country races.