Frank Thomas

Thorpe Notable Sports Figures
Chronology
1888 Born May 28 near Prague, Oklahoma; mother names him Wa-thohuck,
Sauk and Fox for “Bright Path”
1896 Twin brother, Charles, dies
1898 Is enrolled in Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas
1901 Mother dies of blood poisoning
1904 Enrolls in Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
1904 Father dies of blood poisoning
1907 Joins the Carlisle varsity track and football teams
1909-10 Takes time away from Carlisle to go back to Oklahoma; plays
minor-league baseball at Rocky Mount and Fayetteville, North
Carolina
1911 Reenrolls at Carlisle; is named first-team All-American by Walter
Camp for season with Carlisle Indians football team
1912 Wins gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at Olympic
Games in Stockholm, Sweden
1912 Named first-team All-American in football for second consecutive
year
1913 Stripped of Olympic titles when news story breaks that he played
baseball for pay in 1909-1910; gives back Olympic gold medals
1913 Leaves Carlisle and signs three-year contract with New York
Giants pro baseball team
1913 Marries Carlisle sweetheart, Iva Miller; they will have a son and
three daughters
1916-20 Plays halfback and serves as head coach for Canton Bulldogs pro
football team, Canton, Ohio
1918 Son James, Jr., dies at age 3 after a sudden illness
1919 Leaves New York Giants baseball team after run-in with manager
John McGraw
1920 American Professional Football Association is formed; Thorpe is
named first president
1922-23 Organizes and plays for traveling Oorang Indians football team
pete against the best athletes of the time in both the pentathlon-introduced
that year by the Swedes-and the decathlon,
a grueling ten-event competition. During the
pentathlon, he placed first in the running broad jump,
with a leap of 23’ 2.7”. Although he had thrown a javelin
for the first time only two months earlier, Thorpe placed
fourth in this event. He finished first in the 200-meter
dash, with a time of 22.9 seconds. His discus throw distance
measured 116’ 8.4”, almost three feet ahead of the
second place winner. In the 1,500-meter run, Thorpe
paced himself, staying behind until the middle of the
second lap, when he picked up speed. He had passed all
other runners by the beginning of the fourth lap and easily
finished first, with a time of 4 minutes 44.8 seconds.
With a total score of 7, compared to 21 received by the
second place winner, Thorpe won the gold.
Five days later, the long-anticipated decathlon began.
The athletes competed in the pouring rain on the first
day of the three-day event. Thorpe placed third in the
100-meter dash, second in the running broad jump, and
then threw the shot put 42’ 5 9/20”, more than 2.5 feet
further than the second place winner. On a beautiful second
day, he placed first in the high jump, fourth in the
400-meter run, and first in the 110-meter hurdles with a
time of 15.6 seconds, a time that would not be approached
until the 1948 Olympics, when Bob Mathias
completed the hurdles in 15.7 seconds. On the third day,
1612
1923 Marriage to Iva Miller ends
1925 Marries Freeda Kirkpatrick; they will have four sons
1926 Plays final season with Canton Bulldogs
1928 Plays token game with Chicago Cardinals on Thanksgiving Day;
football career ends
1929-45 Works as laborer, movie extra, and lecturer
1932 After former fans raise money so he can attend, Thorpe takes seat
next to Vice President Charles Curtis at Olympic Games in Los
Angeles to a standing ovation by crowd of 105,000
1941 Marriage to Freeda Kirkpatrick ends
1945 Serves briefly in U.S. merchant marine; marries Patricia Gladys
Askew
1948 Joins recreation staff of Chicago Park District and teaches track
fundamentals to young people; is hired to prepare Israel’s National
Soccer Team for match against U.S. Olympic Soccer Team in New
York
1950 Named Greatest Football Player of the Half-Century and Greatest
Male Athlete of the Half-Century
1951 Movie about his life, Jim Thorpe-All-American, premieres in
Oklahoma City and Carlisle
1953 Dies of massive heart attack on March 28 in Lomita, California; is
buried in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, which changes its name to
Jim Thorpe
1963 Inducted as charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
Canton, Ohio
1973 Amateur Athletic Union restores Thorpe’s status as amateur for
1909-1912
1982-83 International Olympic Committee restores Thorpe’s Olympic
records and returns gold medals to his family
1999 U.S. Congress passes resolution naming Thorpe America’s Athlete
of the Century
Thorpe placed second in discus, third in pole vault, third
in the javelin throw, and then beat his pentathlon time in
the 1,500-meter run, finishing in 4 minutes 40.1 seconds.
He won the decathlon and the gold medal with a
total of 8,412.95 points out of a possible 10,000. He finished
almost 700 points ahead of Hugo Wieslander of
Sweden, the silver medalist.
One of the most famous stories about Thorpe revolves
around his acceptance of his second gold medal
from King Gustav V of Sweden. As the king presented
the medal and a bejeweled chalice as a gift, he grabbed
Thorpe’s hand and said, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete
in the world.” Thorpe answered simply, “Thanks, King.”
By the time Thorpe and his fellow Olympians returned
home, he was an international hero and celebrity,
treated to ticker-tape parades in New York, Boston, and
Philadelphia, and honored with banquets and parties.
Bob Bernotas reported that the 24-year-old Indian was
overwhelmed. “I heard people yelling my name, and I
couldn’t realize how one fellow could have so many
friends,” he said.
Greatest Football Season
The year 1912 brought Thorpe not only two Olympic
gold medals, but it proved to be his greatest football sea-