A Brief History
On April 29, 1967, heavyweight boxing champ, Muhammad Ali, was stripped of his crown when he refused induction into the US military. He later was vindicated and regained his championship belt in the ring, and today we look at some sports champions that were stripped of their honors.
Digging Deeper
One of the saddest and most famous cases was Olympic champ Jim Thorpe, stripped of his Gold Medals won at the 1912 Olympics in the Decathlon and Pentathlon because he had once played semi-pro baseball. In 1982, his honors were posthumously returned.
Performance enhancing drugs have cost many athletes a chance for induction in their respective Hall of Fame or even their titles, including cyclist Lance Armstrong, winner of seven consecutive Tour de France bicycle races and several great baseball players currently denied entry into the Hall of Fame due to PED use. All time hits leader, Pete Rose, is denied HOF status due to gambling.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What athlete would you add to this list?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Buckley, James. Who Was Muhammad Ali? Penguin Workshop, 2014.
Maraniss, David. Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe. Simon & Schuster, 2023.
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