Jim Thorpe "All American"

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Jim Thorpe - 1910 

photographer unknown 

 

Today is the birthday of  Jim Thorpe, who was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional football, baseball, and basketball. He was a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, his Sauk name was Wa-Tho-Huk, which translates as "Bright path the lightning makes as it goes across the sky".  

 

Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in classic pentathlon and the other in decathlon). Only matched by Bruce (now Caitlyn Marie) Jenner in 1976.               

 

 

Bruce Jenner -1976
 

 

He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the contemporary amateurism rules. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas, after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days. Official IOC records still listed Thorpe as co-champion in decathlon and pentathlon until 2022, when it was decided to restore him as the sole champion in both events.             

Thorpe received numerous accolades for his athletic accomplishments. The Associated Press ranked him as the "greatest athlete" from the first 50 years of the 20th century, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him as part of its inaugural class in 1963. The town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, was named in his honor. It has a monument site that contains his remains, which were the subject of legal action. Thorpe appeared in several films and was portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the 1951 film Jim Thorpe – All-American.        

 

               

            

            

Viewfinder links:         

        

Bruce Jenner        

Burt Lancaster        

Jim Thorpe        

        

Net links:          

        

ESPN ~ Thorpe preceded Deion, Bo      

Oklahoma Historical Society ~ Thorpe, James Francis (1888–1953)    

Olympics.com ~ Jim Thorpe            

Profootball Hall of Fame ~ Jim Thorpe - Class of 1963               

University of North Carolina ~ Jim Thorpe’s Olympic wins restored — 110 years later     

         

YouTube links:         

         

Jim Thorpe ~        

         Facts That'll Change Everything         

         All American Athlete, Olympian, Hero            

         The Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players       

         The only running clip of jim thorpe           

         The Greatest Athlete of All Time (9 mins., 46 secs.)         

         The Baseball Career of Jim Thorpe       

         Jim Thorpe Movie         

         Jim Thorpe: All American (movie trailer)     

         Jim Thorpe: Quit Complaining (movie clip)    

SportsCentury ~ Jim Thorpe Part 1 (15 mins., 20 secs.)         

SportsCentury ~ Jim Thorpe Part 2 (15 mins., 20 secs.)        

        

        

         

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, May 28, 2025       

       

          

         

         

         

         
         

         

          

         

          

 

 

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