Jim Thorpe was arguable the greatest athelte in American history. He played professional football and major league baseball but is probably most famous for what he did in the 1912 Stockholm Games. Jim Thorpe was the first great Olympic games hero. 100 years later he may still be the greatest Olympic Legend.

•   Jim Thorpe was born on May 28th, 1888 in Oklahoma. We believe that is when he was born a birth certificate has never been found.
• He was of mixed ancestry-Native American and Caucasian. His Indian name meant “Bright Path’ He grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma.
• Jim had a twin brother name Charlie who died at age 9 of pneumonia.
• Jim’s mother died when he was in his early teens giving birth.
• At age 16 Jim’s father sent him east to Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His athletic ability was discovered there by the legendary football coach Pop Warner.
• That same year his father died of complications from a hunting accident. Jim would quit school and return to farm work but a couple years later would return to Carlisle Indian School.
• Jim began his athletic career in 1907 on the track team. He would also play football, baseball, lacrosse and was even a 1912 ballroom dancing champion.
• Thorpe was so great at track that he had to convince Pop Warner to allow him to play football. Warner was afraid of losing his top track star.
• Jim Thorpe first gained fame in the 1911 football season. His Carlisle team went 11-1 and won the college championshp that year. he stored 25 touchdowns. A highlight of that season was an upset over highly ranked Harvard in which Thorpe scored all of his teams points in the win.
• During the 1912 football season the highlight of the season was Carlisle’s victory over Army. On one play Jim ran 92 yards for a touchdown but the touchdown as called back due to a penalty. The next play Jim ran 97 yards for a touchdown. Playing on that Army team was future General and President Dwight Eisenhower.
• Jim Thorpe was an All-American in football in both 1911 and 1912. Football was always his favourite sport.
• In 1912 he began training for the upcoming Olympic Games. He would compete in two events-the pentathlon and the decathlon to win both these events you had to be a great overall athlete not just strong in one area.  The tag “World’s Greatest Athlete” would be routinely given in the future to the athlete who won the Decathlon.
• In the 1912 Stockholm Games the Pentathlon events included-  the long jump, javelin throw, 200 meter run, discus throw and 1500 meter run. The Decathlon events the 220, 440, 880, 120 high hurdles, 220 high hurdles, 220 low hurdles, javelin, discus, shot put and pole vault. So to compete in both -there were 15 events.
• In the Decathlon , Jim would finish in the top 4 in all ten events. In all 15 events he competed in in Pentathlon/Decathlon he won 8 of the 15. He easily won the Gold Medal in both events.
• Back then you were awarded your medals before the closing ceremony. When Jim was given his gold medals, King Gustav said to him “You sir are the greatest athlete in the world” to which Jim supposedly replied “Thanks King”
• When he returned home he was given a ticker-tap parade on Broadway.
• In 1913 it was discovered that Jim had played professional baseball during the summers of 1909-1910. This was a common practice back then. He received meager pay for his play. Most of the college players played under different names- Jim did not.  Jim would be stripped of his amateur status and the International Olympic Committee would strip him of his 2 gold medals.
• Jim Thorpe would then sign with the New York Giants to play Major League Baseball. He would play Major League Baseball from 1913-1919 but never excelled in baseball as much as the other sports. He was a career .252 hitter.
• Jim would play professional football from 1915 until 1928. He played professional sports until the age of 41.
• His life after that went downhill. He worked a series of odd jobs, suffered from alcoholism and his health began to fail. He died in poverty in 1953 at the age of 64.
• Jim Thorpe would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the first year of the Hall of Fame.
• In 1999 the Associated Press named Jim Thorpe the third greatest North American athlete of the 20th century-behind Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.
• In 1951 they made a movie of Jim Thorpe’s live -starring Burt Lancaster as Jim. “Jim Thorpe-All American” I haven’t seen that movie since I was a kid. The movie is how I got my introduction to the great Jim Thorpe.