Robert “Bob” Wheeler and Dr. Florence “Flo” Ridlon Honored with 2024 AAU Crawford Award
10/23/2024
They founded the Jim Thorpe Foundation and were integral to Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medal reinstatement
ORLANDO, Fla. (October 23, 2024) – Emmy Award winner and author Robert “Bob” Wheeler and author Dr. Florence “Flo” Ridlon have been named the recipients of the AAU Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award (AAU Crawford Award). They were recognized at this year's AAU National Convention in Orlando for their tireless efforts in championing Jim Thorpe and helping get his Olympic medals reinstated by the IOC.
The award is intended to recognize those whose efforts, both on and off the playing field, have paved the way for great change in amateur sports. First awarded in 2016, this is the seventh time the AAU Crawford Award has been given out.
Wheeler is the author of the biography entitled Jim Thorpe: World’s Greatest Athlete, extolled by Pro (official magazine of the National Football League) as “the definitive volume on Thorpe.” He also served as the PR manager for ABC Sports, Fox Sports, and the White House Conference for Children and Youth. He and Flo were the driving force in advocating for Jim Thorpe’s reinstatement.
Dr. Ridlon received her Ph.D. in sociology from Syracuse University and has written two published works: A Black Physician’s Struggle for Civil Rights: Edward C. Mazique and A Fallen Angel: The Status Insularity of the Female Alcoholic. Her research through the Library of Congress was the key to finding the written copy of the 1912 Olympic Rules.
“Their work in giving Jim Thorpe the honor and respect he deserves is incredibly admirable” said AAU President Jo Mirza. “Awarding them the AAU Crawford Award is our way of honoring their efforts and contributions not only to our organization, but the world.”
In 1982, the two co-founded the Jim Thorpe Foundation which was dedicated to the restoration of Jim’s Olympic awards and education of the public about his accomplishments. Through Wheeler’s writing and Dr. Ridlon’s research, they are credited as the primary people involved for helping get Jim Thorpe’s medals restored. Although at the time he was reinstated as a co-champion of the pentathlon and decathlon, despite him easily winning the events in 1912.
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Flo and Bob meet Chief Jack Thorpe, Jim Thorpe's son, at Jim's Medal Restoration Ceremony in 1983
Flo and Bob meet Chief Jack Thorpe, Jim Thorpe's son, at Jim's Medal Restoration Ceremony in 1983
By 2020, Bob and Flo were members of Bright Path Strong, an American Indian nonprofit organization, which helped convince the IOC to fully reinstate Jim Thorpe as the sole champion of the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympics. With the endorsements of IOC representative to the United States Anita DeFrantz and help from AAU staff and volunteers, they were able to get Jim Thorpe fully reinstated as the rightful and sole champion of those events in 2022.
“The Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award is especially meaningful to us since Gussie was not only a great President of the AAU, but also the first and only female president of the AAU” said Wheeler during their acceptance speech. “Like Jim Thorpe, she was a great influencer in the rise of women’s sports”.
Bob Wheeler and Flo Ridlon are outstanding winners of this year’s AAU Crawford Award and add to the award’s incredible list of previous recipients like Jim Thorpe himself.
A transcription of the award speech can be found: Here
Accompanying images can be found: Here
Contact:
Alexander Gagnon
Public Relations Coordinator
agagnon@aausports.org
Contact:
Alexander Gagnon
Public Relations Coordinator
agagnon@aausports.org
