By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
The year was 1967, and 23-year-old Syracuse University student Bob Wheeler had been hitchhiking across the country, conducting hundreds of interviews for his master's thesis, an oral history of legendary American Indian athlete and Olympian Jim Thorpe.
"They originally took Thorpe's medals away seven months after the Olympics," Ms. Ridlon said. "We had heard there was a rule stating that if a challenge wasn't made to a competitor within 30 days, the victory would stand. But the IOC kept saying there were no written regulations for the 1912 games. What we needed was some kind of proof."
Jim Thorpe: Oral history project in 1960s becomes quest to right wrong →
"I opened it up," she said. "It was the rules and regulations for the 1912 Olympics. There was Rule 13 -- a challenge [to amateur status] had to be done within 30 days [of the closing ceremony] to take away someone's medals."
Jim Thorpe: Oral history project in 1960s becomes quest to right wrong →
