Thorpe, James Francis

Thorpe, James Francis (1888-1953), American athlete.

In his time, Jim Thorpe was said to be the greatest athlete in the world.

He was part-Indian and his Algonkin name was Wa-Tho-Huck, meaning Bright Path.

In the 1912 Olympic Games Thorpe won the decathlon (ten events) and the pentathlon (five events). Later the two gold medals were taken away from him. This was because he had played baseball for money, and competitors in the Olympic Games are not allowed to take money for sport.

Afterwards Thorpe played American football until he was forty-one.

In 1950, people in America were asked to vote for the best football player of the last half-century and Jim Thorpe got more votes than anyone else.

See Jim Thorpe, Original All-American ~ Joseph Bruchac