I remember when the Olympic games were strictly for amateur athletes.

[trof]

Pro athletes were barred.
When did that change?

Famous case : Jim Thorpe


James Francis "Jim" Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated to "Bright Path&quot [1] (May 28, 1888 – March 28, 1953)[2] was an American athlete of mixed ancestry (Native American and Caucasian). Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals for the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football (collegiate and professional), and also played professional baseball and basketball.

He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he was paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals.

[Zoeisright]

1. 1986

Olympic committee voted to allow any athlete to enter. They said "all of the world's great male and female athletes". I think that's a shame. I don't watch basketball or tennis because it's filled with pros. That isn't interesting.

[sadbear]

8. Tennis is especially uninteresting

They all just got done playing each other multiple times this summer.

[Ilsa]

13. I agree. And who wants to watch

a basketball game finishing with a score of 145+ to 76? It's no fun.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

15. They should have allowed them to be sponsored

but that's it. Having millionaire pros playing is ridiculous.

[Lint Head]

2. I'm aware of Jim Thorpe but don't actually remember him. Not that old.

He was definitely the greatest athlete.

[arbusto_baboso]

3. I was having similar thoughts this morning.

Who exactly is paying the cash bonuses to the medal winners, and WHY? It makes an even bigger mockery of the olympics than they already were of themselves.

[Mutt22]

4. I always thought

it was mainly the American athletes that were amateur, most of the others used professionals.

[trof]

5. Russians and Eastern bloc nations, mainly.

Chinese too, I guess.
Not "pro" as we know it, but promising kids whose lives were pretty much taken over by the state and trained for the games. Winning medals was/is a big propaganda deal.

[Mutt22]

7. I knew the Russians

used the Red Army Hockey team. They are getting ready to show a segment on American athletes who do not go to a traditional school and/or are home schooled in order to train for their sport on our local news.

[Johonny]

9. Pretty much

The whole argument about the purity of amateur sports is lost on me. College basketball and football are "amateur" sports. If those sports are refreshing compared to the Olympics then I'm missing something.

[hollysmom]

6. When it was amatuers, it was mostly a good old boys club

Only those who could afford it played in the games. If it was really about only the best,people would not be entered by country and their national anthem would not be played.

[Angleae]

10. Do you also remember that the "amateur-only" policy was solely to benefit the 1%?

Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern olympics, was a hardcore 1%er. He put that policy in so that the lower class couldn't afford to train enough to make the teams so that only the aristocrats could.

[NoPasaran]

11. Yes, who can forget the US team's uniform in 1968?

Top hats and monocles, every one of them!

[JonLP24]

12. Amateur has largely been a myth

When the Olympics were first created, "Amateur" was a rich person w/ a lot of time on their hands. Poor did not have the time off or the money to be an "Amateur". That is still true, having only amateurs would largely feature those that can afford to be amateurs.

[Great Caesars Ghost]

14. I'm sorry, but allowing pros in is such a bad idea.

1. Pros have NOTHING to prove.

2. It's more about ego than what the olympics REALLY stand for. Our basketball team is the worst in this because all they care about is more about triple doubles than just win the game.

3. Pro make bigger corporate olympic pawns than amateurs. Would you rather buy a box of Wheaties with Phelps on it or the Joe Schmo Public who won gold in team handball? I'll admit, it's very rare that an unknown darling becomes one.