60 Fun Facts About Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe was a citizen of which Native American nation?

The nation later added Olympic rings to its flag in his honour.

At which Olympic Games did Thorpe win his two gold medals?

He won the classic pentathlon and the decathlon, both new events that year.

In which two events did Thorpe win Olympic gold?

He also finished fourth in the high jump and seventh in the long jump.

Why was Thorpe stripped of his Olympic titles in 1913?

He earned as little as two dollars a game in the Eastern Carolina League in 1909 and 1910.

In which year did the IOC restore Thorpe's medals, presenting replicas to his children?

The ruling turned on the fact that his disqualification came long after the 30-day protest window.

In 2022 the IOC changed Thorpe's status in its records from what to what?

The families of Hugo Wieslander and Ferdinand Bie, and the Norwegian and Swedish committees, agreed.

Thorpe was born in Indian Territory, in what is now which US state?

No birth certificate has ever been found, and even the date is disputed between May 22 and May 28, 1887.

Thorpe's Sauk name, Wa-Tho-Huk, is usually translated as what?

The full meaning is "Bright path the lightning makes as it goes across the sky".

What happened to Thorpe's twin brother Charlie?

Charlie had helped him through the Sac and Fox agency school; Jim ran away several times afterwards.

Where did Thorpe enrol in 1904 in Pennsylvania, the place where his athletic talent was discovered?

His father had earlier sent him to Haskell in Kansas so he would stop running away.

Who coached Thorpe at Carlisle?

Glenn Scobey Warner was reluctant to risk his best track athlete in football until Thorpe ran through the whole defence twice.

How did Thorpe first catch attention at Carlisle in 1907?

His impromptu 5 ft 9 in jump broke the school record.

Besides football and track, Thorpe won a 1912 intercollegiate championship in which unlikely activity?

He also played lacrosse, tennis, handball and boxed at Carlisle.

In 1911 Thorpe kicked all four field goals in Carlisle's 18-15 upset of which powerhouse?

Harvard did not lose another game until 1915; Carlisle finished 11-1.

Which future US president played against Thorpe in Carlisle's 1912 win over Army?

Eisenhower recalled that Thorpe "never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw".

Against Army in 1912, Thorpe had a 92-yard score nullified by a penalty. What did he do on the next play?

Carlisle won 27-6.

How many touchdowns did Thorpe score to lead the nation in 1912, according to the College Football Hall of Fame?

He rushed for 1,869 yards, and Sports Illustrated retroactively named him the 1911 and 1912 Heisman winner.

Which poet taught Thorpe at Carlisle and recalled his "ease in his gait"?

She wrote that in the football lineup he was "the epitome of concentration".

The 1912 Olympic pentathlon consisted of long jump, javelin, discus, a 200 m sprint and which fifth event?

Thorpe won four of the five events and was third in the javelin, which he had never thrown before that year.

Which future IOC president was Thorpe's teammate in the 1912 multi-event competitions?

Brundage later rebuffed attempts to reinstate Thorpe, saying "Ignorance is no excuse."

Which Swedish local favourite did Thorpe beat by 688 points in the decathlon?

Wieslander later refused the gold medal the IOC tried to give him, saying Thorpe was the rightful winner.

Thorpe's decathlon score of 8,413 points remained an Olympic record for how long?

It was his first and only decathlon; he placed in the top four in all ten events.

What footwear did Thorpe wear to win the decathlon after his own shoes were stolen?

He is often pictured wearing extra socks on one foot to make the odd shoes fit.

Which monarch reportedly told Thorpe, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world"?

The famous reply "Thanks, King" did not appear in print until 1948 and may be invented.

The challenge prize for Thorpe's pentathlon win had been donated by which ruler?

The Swedish king's trophy went with the decathlon.

On his return from Stockholm, Thorpe was the star of what kind of celebration on Broadway?

"I couldn't realize how one fellow could have so many friends," he said.

Weeks after the Olympics, Thorpe broke Martin Sheridan's record to win which title at Celtic Park in New York?

Sheridan, a five-time Olympic champion, watched and called him "the greatest athlete that ever lived".

For which minor-league town had Thorpe played semi-pro baseball in 1909 and 1910?

Other college players did the same but used aliases; Thorpe used his own name.

Which newspaper first reported in January 1913 that Thorpe had been paid to play baseball?

The AAU's secretary James E. Sullivan pursued the case hard even though the public did not much care.

In his letter to the AAU, Thorpe explained he was "simply an Indian schoolboy" who did what?

He noted that other college men had done the same, but under false names.

With which Major League Baseball team did Thorpe sign in 1913?

He turned down a starting job with the last-place Browns for the champion Giants.

On the Giants-White Sox world tour after the 1913 season, Thorpe met which pope?

He also met the Khedive of Egypt and played before King George V in London.

Thorpe drove in the winning run in the famous 1917 "double no-hitter" between the Reds' Fred Toney and which Cubs pitcher?

He was playing for Cincinnati at the time, having been sold by the Giants early that season.

What was Thorpe's career major-league batting average?

He scored 91 runs and drove in 82 over 289 games between 1913 and 1919.

Which Ohio football team signed Thorpe in 1915 at a then-enormous wage per game?

Attendance jumped from about 1,200 to 8,000 for his debut against Massillon.

Thorpe reportedly ended the 1919 championship game with a wind-assisted punt of how many yards?

It came from his own 5-yard line and put the game out of reach.

Thorpe was nominally the first president of which organisation, formed in 1920?

It became the NFL two years later; Joseph Carr replaced him after a year.

From 1921 to 1923 Thorpe organised and played for which all-Native American NFL team?

Based in La Rue, Ohio, they went 3-6 and 1-10, but Thorpe still made the 1923 All-NFL team.

At what age did Thorpe retire from professional football?

He had played 52 NFL games for six teams from 1920 to 1928.

How did biographers learn in 2005 that Thorpe had also played professional basketball?

He toured with the World Famous Indians of La Rue in 1927-28.

Which sport did Thorpe briefly consider playing professionally in Toronto in 1913?

The Tecumseh Hockey Club courted him.

How much did Thorpe get for selling the film rights to his life story to MGM in 1931?

Warner Bros. eventually made the film and paid him ten times as much for it.

Who played Thorpe in the 1951 biopic Jim Thorpe – All-American?

Michael Curtiz directed; in Britain the film was called Man of Bronze.

In his Depression-era film work, Thorpe mostly played what kind of role?

He was reportedly in over 70 films, including an umpire in Knute Rockne, All American.

When Thorpe was hospitalised for lip cancer in 1950, how was he admitted?

His wife told the press: "We're broke ... Jim has nothing but his name and his memories."

In 1950 an Associated Press poll of sportswriters named Thorpe the greatest athlete of what?

In 1999 the AP placed him third for the whole century, behind Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.

Thorpe was in the inaugural class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in which year?

He is memorialised there with a larger-than-life statue in the rotunda.

The town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, was formed by the merger of which two towns after they acquired his remains?

Thorpe had never set foot there; his widow made the deal in 1954 while his tribe was preparing a burial in Oklahoma.

Under which federal law did Thorpe's sons sue in 2010 to have his body returned to his tribal homeland?

An appeals court ruled in 2014 that the borough was not a "museum" under the act, and the Supreme Court declined the case.

The Jim Thorpe Award, given since 1986, honours the best college player at which position?

An annual US-Germany decathlon meeting, the Thorpe Cup, is also named for him.

Which honour did President Biden announce for Thorpe in 2024?

He had already appeared on the Native American dollar coin in 2018.

How much per game did the Canton Bulldogs pay Thorpe in 1915, a huge wage at the time?

Canton had averaged 1,200 fans a game; 8,000 turned out for his debut against the Massillon Tigers.

How many times did Thorpe marry, fathering eight children in total?

His wives were Iva Miller (1913), Freeda Kirkpatrick (1926) and Patricia Askew (1945).

Thorpe's mother Charlotte Vieux was descended from a chief of which nation?

His father Hiram had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox mother.

In which California city did Thorpe suffer the fatal cardiac arrest in March 1953?

He was dining at home with his wife Patricia, was briefly revived, then died aged 65.

In its 1982 reinstatement, the IOC named Thorpe co-champion with Hugo Wieslander and which pentathlete?

Both men had always said they considered Thorpe the only true champion.

Which president proclaimed April 16, 1973 as 'Jim Thorpe Day'?

It was authorised by US Senate Joint Resolution 73 to promote national recognition of Thorpe's life.

In 2008, which magazine retroactively named Thorpe Heisman Trophy winner for 1911 and 1912?

The Heisman itself was not first awarded until 1935.

Which branch of service did Thorpe briefly join in 1945 during World War II?

Away from films he also worked as a construction worker, bouncer, security guard and ditchdigger.

In the 2000 ABC Sports fan poll, Thorpe was voted greatest athlete of the century over how many others?

The field included Muhammad Ali, Pelé, Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens and Michael Jordan.