Editing Jim Thorpe

{{Short description|American athlete (1887–1953)}}
{{About|the American athlete}}
{{Redirect|Bright Path}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Jim Thorpe
| image              = Jim Thorpe 1913b-cr.jpg
| alt                = Black-and-white image of Jim Thorpe sitting down and writing. He is a Native American man with a Western haircut and wearing a dark suit.
| caption            = Thorpe in 1913
| native_name        = Wa-Tho-Huk
| native_name_lang   = sac
| birth_name         = James Francis Thorpe
| birth_date         = May 22 or 28, 1887
| birth_place        = Near [[Prague, Oklahoma]], U.S.{{efn|Then part of [[Indian Territory]]}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1953|3|28|1887|5|22}}
| death_place        = [[Lomita, California]], U.S.
| nationality        = [[Sac and Fox Nation]], American
| module             = {{Infobox NFL biography
| embed         = yes
| name          = Jim Thorpe
| image         = Jim Thorpe Canton Bulldogs 1915-20.jpg
| alt           = Thorpe wearing his Canton Bulldogs football jersey.
| caption       = Thorpe with the Canton Bulldogs, {{Circa|1915|1920}}
| number        = 2, 21, 3
| position      = [[Halfback (American football)|Tailback]]
| height_ft     = 6
| height_in     = 1
| weight_lb     = 202
| high_school   = [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School|Carlisle Indian Industrial]] ([[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]])
| college       = [[Carlisle Indians football|Carlisle]] (1907–1908, 1911–1912)
| pastteams     = * [[Canton Bulldogs]] (1915–1917, 1919–{{NFL Year|1920}})
* [[Cleveland Tigers (NFL)|Cleveland Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1921}})
* [[Oorang Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1922|1923}})
* [[Rock Island Independents]] ({{NFL Year|1924}})
* [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1925}})
* Rock Island Independents (1925)
* [[Tampa Cardinals]] (1926)
* Canton Bulldogs ({{NFL Year|1926}})
* [[Chicago Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1928}})
| pastcoaching  = * [[Indiana Hoosiers football|Indiana]] (1915) <br> Assistant coach<ref>Cook. p. 115.</ref>
* [[Canton Bulldogs]] (1915–1920) <br> Head coach
* [[Cleveland Tigers (NFL)|Cleveland Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1921}}) <br> Head coach
* [[Oorang Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1922|1923}}) <br> Head coach
* [[Tampa Cardinals]] (1926) <br> Head coach
| pastexecutive = * Oorang Indians (1922–1923) <br> General manager
* Tampa Cardinals (1926) <br> Owner & general manager
| highlights    = ; As a player
* 3× [[Ohio League]] champion ([[1916 Canton Bulldogs season|1916]], [[1917 Canton Bulldogs season|1917]], [[1919 Canton Bulldogs season|1919]])
* First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1923 All-Pro Team|1923]])
* [[National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team|NFL 1920s All-Decade Team]]
* [[National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team|NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team]]
* 2× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1911 College Football All-America Team|1911]], [[1912 College Football All-America Team|1912]])
* Third-team All-American ([[1908 College Football All-America Team|1908]])
; As a coach
* 3× Ohio League champion ([[1916 Canton Bulldogs season|1916]], [[1917 Canton Bulldogs season|1917]], [[1919 Canton Bulldogs season|1919]])
| statlabel1    = Games played
| statvalue1    = 52
| statlabel2    = Games started
| statvalue2    = 37
| statlabel3    = Field goals
| statvalue3    = 4
| statlabel4    = Longest field goal
| statvalue4    = 47
| statlabel5    = Rushing touchdowns
| statvalue5    = 6
| statlabel6    = Points scored
| statvalue6    = 51
| coachrecord   = NFL: {{Winning percentage|14|25|2|record=y}} <br> Ohio League: {{Winning percentage|32|3|2|record=y}} <br> Overall: {{Winning percentage|46|28|4|record=y}}
| pfr           = T/ThorJi20
| pfrcoach      = ThorJi0
| HOF           = jim-thorpe
| CollegeHOF    = 1264
}}
| module2            = {{Infobox baseball biography
| embed         = yes
| name          = Jim Thorpe
| image         = Jim Thorpe Giants.jpeg
| image_size    = 200px
| alt           = Headshot of Thorpe grinning wearing his New York Giants jersey and cap.
| caption       = Thorpe with the New York Giants
| position      = [[Outfielder]]
| bats          = Right
| throws        = Right
| debutleague   = MLB
| debutdate     = April 14
| debutyear     = 1913
| debutteam     = New York Giants
| finalleague   = MLB
| finaldate     = September 25
| finalyear     = 1919
| finalteam     = Boston Braves
| statleague    = MLB
| stat1label    = [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
| stat1value    = .252
| stat2label    = [[Home run]]s 
| stat2value    = 7
| stat3label    = [[Run batted in|RBI]] 
| stat3value    = 82
| stat4label    = [[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
| stat4value    = 176
| teams         =
* [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1913}}–{{mlby|1915}}, {{mlby|1917}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1917}})
* [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1918}}–{{mlby|1919}})
* [[Boston Braves]] ({{mlby|1919}})
| highlights    = 
}}
| module3            = {{Infobox officeholder
| embed         = yes
| name          = Jim Thorpe
| image_size    = 
| caption       = 
| office        = 1st [[Commissioner of the NFL|President of the NFL]]
| term_start    = 1920
| term_end      = 1921
| predecessor   = [[Ralph Hay]]{{efn|He served as the NFL temporary secretary.}}
| successor     = [[Joseph Carr]]
}}
}}
{{MedalTop}}
{{Medal|Sport | Men's athletics}}
{{Medal|Country|the {{flagicon|USA}} [[United States national athletics team|United States]]}}
{{Medal|Gold | [[1912 Summer Olympics|1912 Stockholm]] | [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon|Decathlon]]}}
{{Medal|Gold | [[1912 Summer Olympics|1912 Stockholm]] | [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's pentathlon|Pentathlon]]}}
{{MedalBottom}}
'''James Francis Thorpe''' ({{langx|sac|Wa-Tho-Huk}}, May 22 or 28,<ref name=museum/> 1887{{spaced ndash}}March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional [[American football|football]], baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the [[Sac and Fox Nation]], Thorpe was the first [[Native Americans in the United States|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 [[pentathlon#Athletics pentathlons|classic pentathlon]] and the other in [[decathlon]]). 

He [[List of stripped Olympic medals|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 [[Olympic Games#Amateurism and professionalism|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 [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon|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 grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in [[Indian Territory]] (what is now the U.S. state of [[Oklahoma]]). As a youth, he attended [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]], where he was a three-time [[All-America]]n for the [[Carlisle Indians football|school's football team]] under coach [[Pop Warner]]. After his Olympic success in 1912, which included a record score in the decathlon, he added a victory in the All-Around Championship of the [[Amateur Athletic Union]]. Later in 1913, Thorpe signed with the [[San Francisco Giants|New York Giants]], and he played six seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] between 1913 and 1919. Thorpe joined the [[Canton Bulldogs]] American football team in 1915, helping them win three professional championships. He later played for six teams in the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He played as part of several all-American Indian teams throughout his career, and [[Barnstorming (sports)|barnstormed]] as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of American Indians.

From 1920 to 1921, Thorpe was nominally the [[History of the NFL Commissioner#Jim Thorpe (1920–1921)|first president]] of the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922. He played professional sports until age&nbsp;41, the end of his sports career coinciding with the start of the [[Great Depression]]. He struggled to earn a living after that, working several odd jobs. He suffered from [[alcoholism]], and lived his last years in failing health and poverty. He was married three times and had eight children, including [[Grace Thorpe]], an environmentalist and Native rights activist, before suffering from heart failure and dying in 1953.

Thorpe has 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]]''.

== Early life ==
Information about Thorpe's birth, name and ethnic background varies widely.{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=129}} He was baptized "Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe" in the [[Catholic Church]]. Thorpe was born in [[Indian Territory]] of the United States (later [[Oklahoma]]), but no [[birth certificate]] has been found.<ref name="BD"/> The Jim Thorpe Museum lists his birth date as May 28, 1887,;<ref name="museum">{{cite web |title=Jim Thorpe History |url=https://oklahomasportshalloffame.org/jim-thorpe-museum |website=Jim Thorpe Museum |publisher=Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame |access-date=January 15, 2025}}</ref> however, others have listed it as May 22, 1887,<ref name="BD">{{Cite book |last=Golus |first=Carrie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIWXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |title=Jim Thorpe |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4677-0397-0 |edition=Revised |page=4}}</ref> near the town of [[Prague, Oklahoma|Prague]].<ref name="NYTobit" /> Thorpe said in a note to ''[[The Shawnee News-Star]]'' in 1943 that he was born May 28, 1888, "near and south of [[Bellemont, Oklahoma|Bellemont]] – [[Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma|Pottawatomie County]] – along the banks of the North Fork River&nbsp;... hope this will clear up the inquiries as to my birthplace."{{Sfn|Wheeler|1979|p=291}} May 22, 1887, is listed on his [[Baptism|baptismal certificate]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 22, 2010 |title=Author of Jim Thorpe's biography shakes things up |url=http://www.tnonline.com/2010/nov/22/author-jim-thorpes-biography-shakes-things |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505060548/https://www.tnonline.com/2010/nov/22/author-jim-thorpes-biography-shakes-things/ |archive-date=May 5, 2015 |access-date=May 2, 2015 |work=Times News Online}}</ref> Thorpe referred to [[Shawnee, Oklahoma|Shawnee]] as his birthplace in his 1943 note to the newspaper.{{Sfn|Wheeler|1979|p=291}}

Thorpe's father, Hiram Thorpe ([[Sac and Fox]]), had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox mother.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hannigan |first=Dave |date=August 3, 2016 |title=America at Large: Bizarre coda to Olympian Jim Thorpe's epic life |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/america-at-large-bizarre-coda-to-olympian-jim-thorpe-s-epic-life-1.2743918 |access-date=June 4, 2017 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Redmond |first=Patrick R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATzTAgAAQBAJ&q=The+Irish+and+the+Making+of+American+Sport%2C+1835-1920 |title=The Irish and the Making of American Sport, 1835–1920 |publisher=McFarland and Company |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4766-0584-5 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |page=279}}</ref> His mother, Charlotte Vieux, was the daughter of [[Citizen Potawatomi Nation]] members Elizabeth and Jacob Vieux,<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 6, 2021 |title=The fight to recognize Jim Thorpe as official Olympic gold medal winner |url=https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2021/01/06/the-fight-to-recognize-jim-thorpe-as-official-olympic-gold-medal-winner/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Potawatomi.org |publisher=[[Citizen Potawatomi Nation]]}}</ref> and was a descendant of Chief Louis Vieux.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 12, 2022 |title=Connections between Potawatomi and Kickapoo endure |url=https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2022/04/12/connections-between-potawatomi-and-kickapoo-endure/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Potawatomi.org |publisher=Citizen Potawatomi Nation}}</ref>

Thorpe was raised in the [[Sauk people|Sauk]], or Thâkîwaki, culture,<ref name="ohs">{{cite web |last1=McCollum |first1=Timothy James |title=Sac and Fox |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=SA001 |website=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |access-date=January 15, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 15, 1912 |title=Jim Thorpe Leaps To Fame On Carlisle Athletic Field |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3477783/the_washington_post/ |access-date=October 24, 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> and his [[Sauk language|Sauk]] name was Wa-Tho-Huk, which translates as "Bright path the lightning makes as it goes across the sky",<ref name=museum/> often shortened to "Bright Path".{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=129}} Thorpe's parents were both Roman Catholic, a faith which Thorpe observed throughout his adult life.{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=131}}

Thorpe attended the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School in [[Stroud, Oklahoma|Stroud]], with his twin brother, Charlie. Charlie helped him through school until he died of [[pneumonia]] when they were nine years old.<ref name=museum/><ref name="cgm">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe – Fast facts |url=http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/facts/facts.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503044807/http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/facts/facts.html |archive-date=May 3, 2011 |website=cgmworldwide.com}}</ref> Thorpe [[truancy|ran away]] from school several times. His father sent him to the [[Haskell Indian Nations University|Haskell Institute]], an [[American Indian boarding schools|Indian boarding school]] in [[Lawrence, Kansas]], so that he would not run away again.<ref name="Oly30" />

When Thorpe's mother died of childbirth complications two years later,{{Sfn|Hoxie|1996|p=628}} he became depressed. After several arguments with his father, he left home to work on a horse ranch.<ref name="Oly30">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe – Olympic Hero and Native American |url=http://www.olympics30.com/30greatest/jim-thorpe-hero.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621082309/http://www.olympics30.com/30greatest/jim-thorpe-hero.asp |archive-date=June 21, 2011 |website=olympics30.com}}</ref>

In 1904, the 16-year-old Thorpe returned to his father and decided to attend [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]]. There his athletic ability was recognized and he was coached by [[Pop Warner|Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner]], one of the most influential coaches of early American football history.<ref name="CNN" /> Later that year he was orphaned when his father Hiram Thorpe died from [[gangrene]] poisoning, after being wounded in a hunting accident.{{Sfn|Hoxie|1996|p=628}} The young Thorpe again dropped out of school. He resumed farm work for a few years before returning to Carlisle School.<ref name="Oly30" />

==Amateur career==
===College career===
[[File:Jim Thorpe 1912.jpg|thumb|alt=Closeup of Thorpe looking up to the sky|Thorpe in 1912]]
[[File:Glenn Warner, Jim Thorpe tackling a dummy.jpg|thumb|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe tackling a dummy that is made of weights and pulley on wire, with Coach Warner, 1912]]

Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle in 1907 when he walked past the track and, still in street clothes, beat all the school's [[high jump]]ers with an impromptu 5-ft 9-in jump that broke the school record.<ref name="bookrag">''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. [http://www.bookrags.com/Jim_Thorpe Jim Thorpe], [[Thomson-Gale]], ''Bookrags'', June 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2007. {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Jim Thorpe |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Biography}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rousselle |first=Christine |title=On this day in history, May 28, 1888, Jim Thorpe, 'greatest athlete in the world,' is born |url=https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/this-day-history-may-28-1888-jim-thorpe-greatest-athlete-world-born.amp |date=May 28, 2024 |access-date=April 28, 2025 |website=Fox News}}</ref> His earliest recorded track and field results come from 1907. He also competed in football, baseball, [[field lacrosse|lacrosse]], [[tennis]], [[boxing]], [[handball]], and [[ballroom dancing]], winning the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.<ref name=museum/><ref name="SI2004">{{Cite news |date=August 8, 2004 |title=Jim Thorpe cruelly treated by authorities |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/08/bc.olympics.athletics.thorpe/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114205622/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/08/bc.olympics.athletics.thorpe/ |archive-date=November 14, 2007 |access-date=April 15, 2008 |publisher=CNN Sports Illustrated |agency=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayer |first=Daphne |date=2020-11-25 |title=The Greatest Native American Athlete: Jim Thorpe (Wa-tho-Huk) |url=https://canals.org/2020/11/25/the-greatest-native-american-athlete-jim-thorpe-wa-tho-huk/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=National Canal Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Glenn Scobey Warner|Pop Warner]] was hesitant to allow Thorpe, his best track and field athlete, to compete in such a physical game as football.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} Thorpe, however, convinced Warner to let him try some rushing plays in practice against the school team's defense; Warner assumed he would be tackled easily and give up the idea.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} Thorpe "ran around past and through them not once, but twice".{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}} He walked over to Warner and said, "Nobody is going to tackle Jim", while flipping him the ball.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}}

Thorpe first gained nationwide notice in 1911 for his athletic ability.<ref name="Redskin">{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1912 |title=Indian Thorpe in Olympiad: Redskin from Carlisle Will Strive for Place on American Team |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/04/28/archives/indian-thorpe-in-olympiad-redskin-from-carlisle-will-strive-for.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=T9}}</ref> As a [[running back]], [[defensive back]], [[placekicker]] and [[punter (football position)|punter]], Thorpe scored all of his team's four field goals in an 18–15 upset of [[Harvard Crimson football|Harvard]], a top-ranked team in the early days of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association#History|National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA).{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=60}}<ref name="NCAAHarvard">{{Cite web |last=Richmond |first=Sam |date=November 11, 2015 |title=Jim Thorpe leads Carlisle to upset of Harvard in 1911 |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2015-11-11/jim-thorpe-leads-carlisle-upset-harvard-1911 |access-date=August 29, 2018 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association}}</ref> He also rushed for 173 yards in the game, and afterwards Harvard did not lose again until 1915.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=January 14, 2020 |title=The 150 greatest players in college football's 125-year history |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/cfb150players/the-150-greatest-players-college-football-150-year-history |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref> Carlisle would go on to finish the 1911 season with an 11–1 record and were retroactively named [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS#Other selectors|national collegiate champions]] in a book titled "''Champions of College Football''", written by [[Bill Libby]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Libby National Champions |url=https://www.billlibby.com/libby-national-champions |access-date=April 28, 2025 |publisher=Bill Libby |language=en}}</ref> In 1912, Thorpe led the nation with 29 [[Touchdown|touchdowns]] and 224 points scored during the season, according to the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=College Football Hall of Famers Who Are Olympic Medalist |url=https://www.cfbhall.com/news-and-happenings/blog/college-football-hall-of-famers-who-are-olympic-medalist/ |date=July 29, 2021 |access-date=April 27, 2025 |publisher=College Football Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> Steve Boda, a researcher for the NCAA, credits Thorpe with 27 touchdowns and 224 points. Thorpe rushed 191 times for 1,869 yards, according to Boda; the figures do not include statistics from two of Carlisle's 14 games in 1912 because full records are not available.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=151}}

Carlisle's 1912 record included a 27–6 victory over the West Point [[United States Military Academy|Army team]].<ref name="NYTobit" /> In that game, Thorpe's 92-yard touchdown was nullified by a teammate's penalty, but on the next play Thorpe rushed for a 97-yard touchdown.<ref name="usoc">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=http://www.usoc.org/26_37888.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201621/http://www.usoc.org/26_37888.htm |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |website=usoc.org}}</ref> Future President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who played against him in that game, recalled of Thorpe in a 1961 speech:

{{blockquote|
Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw.<ref name="CNN">Botelho, Greg. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/09/jim.thorpe/ "Roller-coaster life of Indian icon, sports' first star"], CNN.com, July 14, 2004. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref>
}}

Thorpe was a third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] in 1908{{Sfn|Cook|2011|p=42}} and a first-team All-American in 1911 and 1912.<ref name="NYTobit" /> Football was – and remained – Thorpe's favorite sport.<ref>O'Hanlon-Lincoln. p. 144.<br />* [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=213 Jim Thorpe], profootballhalloffame.com. Retrieved April 23, 2007.</ref> He did not compete in track and field in 1910 or 1911,{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=113}} although this turned out to be the sport in which he gained his greatest fame.<ref name="NYTobit" />

<blockquote>In the spring of 1912, he started training for the Olympics. He had confined his efforts to jumps, hurdles and shot-puts, but now added pole vaulting, javelin, discus, hammer and 56&nbsp;lb weight. In the Olympic trials held at Celtic Park in New York, his all-round ability stood out in all these events and so he earned a place on the team that went to Sweden.<ref name="NYTobit" /></blockquote>

The poet [[Marianne Moore]], who taught Thorpe at Carlisle, recalled:<blockquote> He had a kind of ease in his gait that is hard to describe. Equilibrium with no stricture, but couched in the lineup of football he was the epitome of concentration, wary, with an effect of plenty in reserve.{{Sfn|Maraniss|2022|p=147}}</blockquote>

=== Olympic career ===
For the [[1912 Summer Olympics]] in Stockholm, Sweden, two new multi-event disciplines were included, the [[pentathlon]] and the [[decathlon]].{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=112}} A pentathlon, based on the ancient Greek event, had been introduced at the [[1906 Intercalated Games]].{{Sfn|Zarnowski|2013|p=150}} The 1912 version consisted of the [[long jump]], [[javelin throw]], 200-meter dash, [[discus throw]], and 1500-meter run.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=112}}

The decathlon was a relatively new event in modern athletics, although a similar competition known as the all-around championship had been part of American track meets since the 1880s. A [[Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's all-around|men's version]] had been featured on the program of the [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 St.&nbsp;Louis Olympics]]. The events of the new decathlon differed slightly from the American version.{{Sfn|Zarnowski|2005|pp=29–30, 240}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's All-Around Championship |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1904/ATH/mens-all-around-championship.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171728/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1904/ATH/mens-all-around-championship.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=January 25, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref>

Thorpe was so versatile that he served as Carlisle's one-man team in several track meets.<ref name="NYTobit" /> According to his obituary in ''[[The New York Times]]'', he could run the 100-yard dash in 10&nbsp;seconds flat; the 220 in 21.8&nbsp;seconds; the 440 in 51.8&nbsp;seconds; the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35; the 120-yard high hurdles in 15&nbsp;seconds; and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24&nbsp;seconds.<ref name="NYTobit">{{Cite news |date=March 29, 1953 |title=Jim Thorpe is Dead on West Coast at 64 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/03/29/archives/jim-thorpe-is-dead-on-west-coast-at-64-jim-thorpe-dead-on-the-coast.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701182600/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0528.html |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |access-date=December 7, 2020 |work=The New York Times |page=A1}}</ref> He could long jump 23&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in and high-jump 6&nbsp;ft 5&nbsp;in.<ref name="NYTobit" /> He could [[pole vault]] 11&nbsp;feet; [[shot put|put the shot]] 47&nbsp;ft 9&nbsp;in; [[javelin throw|throw the javelin]] 163&nbsp;feet; and throw the [[discus throw|discus]] 136&nbsp;feet.<ref name="NYTobit" />

Thorpe entered the U.S.&nbsp;Olympic trials for both the pentathlon and the decathlon. He easily earned a place on the pentathlon team, winning three events. The decathlon trial was subsequently cancelled, and Thorpe was chosen to represent the U.S. in the event.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=114}} The pentathlon and decathlon teams also included [[Avery Brundage]], a future [[International Olympic Committee]] president.{{Sfn|Findling|Pelle|2004|pp=473–474}}

Thorpe was extremely busy in the Olympics. Along with the decathlon and pentathlon, he competed in the long jump and high jump.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79125 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |website=Olympedia}}</ref> The first competition was the pentathlon on July 7.<ref name="sr" /> He won four of the five events and placed third in the javelin,{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=127–128}} an event he had not competed in before 1912.<ref name="recognized">{{Cite magazine |last=Jenkins |first=Sally |date=July 2012 |title=Why Are Jim Thorpe's Olympic Records Still Not Recognized? |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-are-jim-thorpes-olympic-records-still-not-recognized-130986336/?page=4&no-ist |access-date=August 15, 2016 |magazine=Smithsonian}}</ref> Although the pentathlon was primarily decided on place points, points were also earned for the marks achieved in the individual events. Thorpe won the gold medal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Pentathlon |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-pentathlon.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175029/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-pentathlon.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 30, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref> That same day, he qualified for the high jump final, in which he finished in a tie for fourth. On July 12, Thorpe placed seventh in the long jump.<ref name="sr" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's High Jump Qualifying Round |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-high-jump-qualifying-round.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417065811/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1912/ATH/mens-high-jump-qualifying-round.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 30, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref>

Thorpe's final event was the decathlon, his first (and as it turned out, his only) decathlon.<ref name="sr">{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175027/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=January 21, 2018 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=170 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122071842/https://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=170 |archive-date=January 22, 2018 |access-date=January 21, 2018 |publisher=National Track and Field Hall of Fame}}</ref> Strong competition from local favorite [[Hugo Wieslander]] was expected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hugo Wieslander |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/hugo-wieslander-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175426/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/hugo-wieslander-1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=June 29, 2019 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref> Thorpe, however, defeated Wieslander by 688 points.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=130}} He placed in the top four in all ten events, and his Olympic record of 8,413 points stood for nearly two decades.<ref name="bookrag" /> Even more remarkably, because someone had stolen his shoes just before he was due to compete, he found a mismatched pair of replacements, including one from a trash can, and won the gold medal wearing them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tucker |first=Neely |date=March 15, 2012 |title=Battle over athlete Jim Thorpe's burial site continues |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/battle-over-athlete-jim-thorpes-burial-site-continues/2012/02/21/gIQAn5DLES_story.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>{{Sfn|Dodge|2013|p=145}} Overall, Thorpe won eight of the 15 individual events comprising the pentathlon and decathlon.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Sally |date=August 10, 2012 |title=Greatest Olympic athlete? Jim Thorpe, not Usain Bolt |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/greatest-olympic-athlete-jim-thorpe-not-usain-bolt/2012/08/10/f9114872-e33c-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html |access-date=June 7, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

As was the custom of the day, the medals were presented to the athletes during the closing ceremonies of the games. Along with the two gold medals, Thorpe also received two challenge prizes, which had been donated by King [[Gustaf V|Gustav&nbsp;V of Sweden]] for the decathlon and Czar [[Nicholas&nbsp;II of Russia]] for the pentathlon. Several sources recount that, when awarding Thorpe his prize, King Gustav said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world", to which Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King".<ref name="Flatter">{{Cite web |last=Flatter |first=Ron |title=ESPN.com: Thorpe preceded Deion, Bo |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016499.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=www.espn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bernotas |first1=Bob |title=Jim Thorpe: Sac and Fox athlete |last2=Baird |first2=W. David |date=1992 |publisher=Chelsea House |isbn=978-0-7910-1722-7 |series=North American Indians of achievement |location=New York}}</ref> While the compliment from King Gustav is confirmed in the September 1912 publication of ''The Red Man'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Red Man (Vol. 5, No. 1) {{!}} Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center |url=https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/publications/red-man-vol-5-no-1 |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=carlisleindian.dickinson.edu}}</ref> Thorpe biographer Kate Buford suggests that Thorpe's remark was embellished, as she believes that such a response "would have been out of character for a man who was highly uncomfortable in public ceremonies and hated to stand out."{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=131}} The quoted reply did not appear in newspapers until 1948–36&nbsp;years after his appearance in the Olympics–<ref>e.g.,&nbsp;"Sports in Brief", ''Amarillo (TX) Daily News'', Saturday, March 13, 1948, p. 2 (available at newspaperarchive.com).</ref>and surfaced in books by 1952.<ref>John Durant and Otto Bettmann, ''Pictorial History of American Sports, from Colonial Times to the Present'' (A. S. Barnes, 1952) p. 143.</ref>

Thorpe's successes were followed in the United States. On the Olympic team's return, Thorpe was the star attraction in a [[ticker-tape parade]] on [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]].<ref name="Flatter" /> He remembered later, "I heard people yelling my name, and I couldn't realize how one fellow could have so many friends."<ref name="Flatter" />

Apart from his track and field appearances, Thorpe also played in one of two exhibition [[Baseball at the 1912 Summer Olympics|baseball games at the 1912&nbsp;Olympics]], which featured two teams composed mostly of U.S.&nbsp;track and field athletes.{{Sfn|Cava|1992|pp=8–9}} Thorpe had previous experience in the sport, as the public soon learned.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=158–161}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Photograph of Jim Thorpe with Admirers - NARA - 595392.tif|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe shaking hands with [[Moses Friedman]] while [[Pop Warner|Glenn "Pop" Warner]] (left), [[Lewis Tewanima]] (center), and a crowd look on
File:Jim Thorpe.jpg|upright|alt=Refer to caption|Thorpe in [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] uniform, c.&nbsp;1909
File:Photograph of Jim Thorpe - NARA - 595347.jpg|upright|alt=Thorpe crouching and looking to the right|Thorpe, {{circa|1910}}
File:Jim Thorpe, 1912 Summer Olympics.jpg|upright|alt=Thorpe standing, wearing a United States Olympic jersey|Thorpe at the [[1912 Summer Olympics]]
</gallery>

===All-Around champion===
After his victories at the Olympic Games in Sweden, on September 2, 1912, Thorpe returned to Celtic Park, the home of the [[Irish American Athletic Club]], in [[Queens]], New York (where he had qualified four months earlier for the Olympic Games), to compete in the [[Amateur Athletic Union]]'s All-Around Championship. Competing against [[Bruno Brodd]] of the Irish American Athletic Club and [[John L. Bredemus]] of [[Princeton University]], he won seven of the ten events contested and came in second in the remaining three. With a total point score of 7,476&nbsp;points, Thorpe broke the previous record of 7,385&nbsp;points set in 1909 (also at Celtic Park), by [[Martin Sheridan]], the champion athlete of the Irish American Athletic Club.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1912 |title=Indian Thorpe is Best Athlete&nbsp;– Olympic Champion Wins All-Around Championship and Breaks Record |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/09/03/archives/indian-thorpe-is-best-athlete-olympic-champion-wins-allaround.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 29, 1912 |title=Hopes to Set New Record |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/albert-lea-evening-tribune-aug-29-1912-p-6/ |access-date=September 14, 2018 |website=Albert Lea Evening Tribune |page=6}}</ref> Sheridan, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, was present to watch his record broken. He approached Thorpe after the event and shook his hand saying, "Jim, my boy, you're a great man. I never expect to look upon a finer athlete." He told a reporter from ''[[New York World]]'', "Thorpe is the greatest athlete that ever lived. He has me beaten fifty ways. Even when I was in my prime, I could not do what he did today."{{Sfn|Wheeler|1979|p=118}}

===Controversy===
In 1912, [[Olympic Games#Amateurism and professionalism|strict rules]] regarding [[Amateur sports|amateurism]] were in effect for athletes participating in the Olympics. Athletes who received money prizes for competitions, were sports teachers, or had competed previously against professionals, were not considered amateurs. They were barred from competition.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=121}}

In late January 1913, the ''[[Worcester Telegram]]'' reported that Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics, and other U.S.&nbsp;newspapers followed up the story.<ref name="Flatter" /><ref>""Jim" Thorpe Admits He Is Professional, and Retires from Athletics", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', January 28, 1913, p. 8. "Charges that Thorpe had played professional baseball in Winston Salem, N.C. were first published in a Worcester (Mass.) newspaper last week."</ref> Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball in the [[Eastern Carolina League]] for [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina]], in 1909 and 1910, receiving meager pay; reportedly as little as US$2 (${{Inflation|US|2|1910|r=0|fmt=c}} today) per game and as much as US$35 (${{Inflation|US|35|1910|r=0|fmt=c}} today) per week.<ref name="Anderson" /> College players, in fact, regularly spent summers playing professionally in order to earn some money, but most used aliases, unlike Thorpe.<ref name="CNN" /> Although the public did not seem to care much about Thorpe's past,{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=50}} the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] (AAU), and especially its secretary [[James Edward Sullivan]], took the case very seriously.{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=40}}

Thorpe wrote a letter to Sullivan, in which he admitted playing professional baseball:<ref name="Flatter" />

{{blockquote|I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things. In fact, I did not know that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I knew several other college men had done, except that they did not use their own names&nbsp;...}}

His letter did not help.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=161}} The AAU decided to withdraw Thorpe's amateur status retroactively.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Campagna |first=Jeff |date=May 28, 2010 |title=Wishing Jim Thorpe a Happy Birthday |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/wishing-jim-thorpe-a-happy-birthday-133250524/ |access-date=May 11, 2017 |magazine=Smithsonian}}</ref> Later that year, the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) unanimously decided to [[List of stripped Olympic medals|strip]] Thorpe of his Olympic titles, medals and awards, and declare him a professional.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=167}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thomas |first=Louisa |date=July 29, 2016 |title=Doping and an Olympic Crisis of Idealism |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/doping-and-an-olympic-crisis-of-idealism |access-date=May 11, 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>{{Sfn|Quirk|2014|p=42}}

Although Thorpe had played for money, the AAU and IOC did not follow their own rules for disqualification. The rulebook for the 1912&nbsp;Olympics stated that protests had to be made "within 30&nbsp;days from the closing ceremonies of the games."<ref name="usoc" /> The first newspaper reports did not appear until January 1913, about six months after the Stockholm Games had concluded.<ref name="usoc" /> There is also some evidence that Thorpe was known to have played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics, but the AAU had ignored the issue until being confronted with it in 1913.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=162}}{{Sfn|Dyreson|1998|p=171}} The only positive aspect of this affair for Thorpe was that, as soon as the news was reported that he had been declared a professional, he received offers from professional sports clubs.{{Sfn|Rendell|2004|p=60}}

==Professional career==

===Baseball===
In 1910, Thorpe had the unusual status of a sought-after [[free agent]] at the major league level during the era of the [[reserve clause]], because the minor league team that last held his contract had disbanded that year, so he was free to choose which baseball team to play for.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 1, 1913 |title=Thorpe is to Play Ball with Giants; Famous Indian Athlete Accepts McGraw's Terms Over the Telephone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/02/01/archives/thorpe-is-to-play-ball-with-giants-famous-indian-athlete-accepts.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=The New York Times |page=1}}</ref> In January 1913, he turned down a starting position with the [[St. Louis Browns]], then at [[1912 St. Louis Browns season|the bottom of the American League]]. Thorpe signed with the [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] baseball club in 1913, the defending [[1912 New York Giants season|1912&nbsp;National League champion]]. With Thorpe playing in 19 of their 151&nbsp;games, they repeated as the [[1913 New York Giants season|1913&nbsp;National League champions]]. Immediately following the Giants' October loss in the [[1913 World Series]], Thorpe and the Giants joined the [[Chicago White Sox]] for a world tour.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 7, 1913 |title=Sox and Giants on World's Tour; Comiskey-McGraw Party Leaves Chicago Oct 19 and Arrives in New York March 6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/07/27/archives/sox-and-giants-on-worlds-tour-comiskeymcgraw-party-leaves-chicago.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=The New York Times |page=S2}}</ref> [[Barnstorming (sports)|Barnstorming]] across the United States and around the world, Thorpe was the celebrity of the tour.{{Sfn|Elfers|2003|p=210}}

Thorpe's presence increased the publicity, attendance and [[gate receipts]] for the tour.<ref name="tour">{{Cite web |last=Calvin |first=Tom |date=March 21, 2014 |title=The Inside Story of Baseball's Grand World Tour of 1914 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-story-baseballs-grand-world-tour-1914-180950228/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> He met with [[Pope Pius X]] and [[Abbas II of Egypt|Abbas II Hilmi Bey]] (the last [[Khedive of Egypt]]), and played before 20,000 people in London including [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]].<ref name="tour" />{{Sfn|Elfers|2003|pp=185–187, 233}} Thorpe was the last man to compete in both the Olympics (in a non-baseball sport) and [[Major League Baseball]] before [[Eddy Alvarez]] did the same in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chandan |first=Sachin Dave |date=August 8, 2020 |title=From Olympic medalist to MLB infielder: How speedskater Eddy Alvarez made it to The Show |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29614458/from-olympic-medalist-mlb-infielder-how-speedskater-eddy-alvarez-made-show |access-date=August 8, 2020 |publisher=ESPN}}</ref>

Thorpe played sporadically with the Giants as an outfielder for three seasons. After playing in the minor leagues with the [[Milwaukee Brewers (minor league baseball team)|Milwaukee Brewers]] in 1916,<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/10795049@N02/2216883254/ "Jim Thorpe's Speed Big Hit In A.A."] ''The Janesville Daily Gazette '', July 10, 1916. Retrieved January 19, 2017.</ref> he returned to the Giants in 1917. He was sold to the [[Cincinnati Reds]] early in the season. In the "double [[no-hitter]]" between [[Fred Toney]] of the Reds and [[Hippo Vaughn]] of the [[Chicago Cubs]], Thorpe drove in the winning run in the 10th inning.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Arthur |date=April 17, 1949 |title=Baseball's 'Ten Greatest Moments' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/04/17/archives/baseballs-ten-greatest-moments-baseballs-ten-greatest-moments.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=The New York Times |page=SM14}}</ref> Late in the season, he was sold back to the Giants. Again, he played sporadically for them in 1918 before being traded to the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] on May 21, 1919, for [[Pat Ragan]]. In his career, he amassed 91&nbsp;[[runs scored]], 82&nbsp;[[runs batted in]] and a .252&nbsp;[[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] over 289&nbsp;games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thorpji01.shtml |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He continued to play [[minor league baseball]] until 1922,{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=232}} and once played for the minor league [[Toledo Mud Hens]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meade |first=Dick |date=April 6, 1921 |title=Hens Win Another and Depart From Training Camp |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YvFXAAAAIBAJ&pg=711%2C1497387 |access-date=July 5, 2019 |work=The Toledo News-Bee |page=12}}</ref>

=== Football ===
Thorpe had not abandoned football either. He first played professional football in 1913 as a member of the Indiana-based [[Pine Village, Indiana#Professional football|Pine Village Pros]], a team that had a several-season winning streak against local teams during the 1910s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NFL History by Decade, 1911–1920 |url=http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1911-1920 |access-date=September 7, 2009 |publisher=[[National Football League]]}}</ref> He signed with the [[Canton Bulldogs]] in 1915. They paid him $250 (${{Inflation|US|250|1915|r=0|fmt=c}}) a game, a tremendous wage at the time.{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=18}} Before signing him Canton was averaging 1,200&nbsp;fans a game, but 8,000 showed up for Thorpe's debut against the [[Massillon Tigers]].{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=18}} The team won titles in 1916, 1917, and 1919. Thorpe reportedly ended the 1919 championship game by kicking a wind-assisted 95-yard punt from his team's own 5-yard line, effectively putting the game out of reach.{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=18}}

In 1920, the Bulldogs were one of 14&nbsp;teams to form the [[American Professional Football Association]], which became the [[National Football League]] (NFL) two years later. Thorpe was nominally [[History of the NFL Commissioner#Jim Thorpe (1920–1921)|their first president]], but spent most of the year playing for Canton; a year later, he was replaced as president by [[Joseph Carr]].{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=20}} He continued to play for Canton, coaching the team as well. Between 1921 and 1923, he helped organize and played for the [[Oorang Indians]] ([[La Rue, Ohio]]), an all-Native American team.<ref>{{Cite book |last=C. Richard King |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TIr7zpw7B8C&pg=PA11 |title=Native athletes in sport & society: a reader |publisher=Bison Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8032-7828-8 |pages=11–12}}</ref> Although the team's record was 3–6 in 1922,{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=34}} and 1–10 in 1923,{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=40}} Thorpe played well and was selected for the ''[[Green Bay Press-Gazette]]''{{'s}} first All-NFL team in 1923. This was later formally recognized in 1931 by the NFL as the league's official All-NFL team.{{Sfn|Neft|Cohen|Korch|1994|p=41}}

Thorpe never played for an NFL championship team. He retired from professional football at age&nbsp;41,<ref name="cgm" /> having played 52&nbsp;games for six teams from 1920 to 1928.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ThorJi20.htm |access-date=July 23, 2013 |publisher=Pro Football Reference}}</ref>

=== Basketball ===
[[File:Jim Thorpe WFI PC front detail.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Thorpe holding a basketball wearing a World Famous Indians jersey|Thorpe with a basketball, 1927]]

Most of Thorpe's biographers were unaware of his basketball career until a ticket that documented his time in professional basketball was discovered in an old book in 2005.<ref name="ticket">{{Cite web |title=History Detectives – Episode 10, 2005: Jim Thorpe Ticket, Jamestown, New York |url=http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2011-04-27/310_jimthorpe.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814205913/http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2011-04-27/310_jimthorpe.pdf |archive-date=August 14, 2022 |access-date=May 25, 2017 |publisher=pbs.org}}</ref> By 1926, he was the main feature of the [[World Famous Indians]] of [[La Rue, Ohio]], a traveling basketball team.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=253–254}} The team barnstormed for at least two years (1927–28) in multiple states.<ref name="ticket" /> Although stories about Thorpe's team were published in some local newspapers at the time, his basketball career is not well-documented.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pennington |first=Bill |date=March 29, 2005 |title=Jim Thorpe and a Ticket to Serendipity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/sports/othersports/jim-thorpe-and-a-ticket-to-serendipity.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 25, 2017 |work=The New York Times |page=D1}}</ref>

For a brief time in 1913, he was considering going into professional [[Ice hockey|hockey]] for the Tecumseh Hockey Club in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1913 |title=Jim Thorpe may take up professional hockey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/79823061/ |access-date=November 23, 2020 |work=The Liberal Democrat |location=Liberal, Kansas |page=5}}</ref>

==Athletic achievements==
{{dynamic list}}

<blockquote>
"You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." — [[Gustav V|King Gustav V of Sweden]]
</blockquote>

'''National'''
* [[File:Presidential Medal of Freedom (ribbon).svg|80px]] [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] ([[List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients#Awarded by Joe Biden|2024]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Track & Field Article {{!}} AAU |url=https://aausports.org/track-and-field/news/article?id=3409 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=aausports.org |language=en}}</ref>
===Halls of fame===
* [[Helms Athletic Foundation#Pro Football Hall of Fame|Helms Athletic Foundation Pro Football Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1950<ref>{{Cite news |date=1950-08-03 |title=Helms Foundation Starts Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-arizona-republic-helms-foundation-st/5380135/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |work=The Arizona Republic |pages=26}}</ref>
* [[Oklahoma Hall of Fame]] – Class of 1950<ref>{{Cite web |title=James (Jim) Francis Thorpe, Class of 1950 {{!}} Oklahoma Hall of Fame |url=https://www.oklahomahof.com/hof/inductees/thorpe-james-jim-francis-1950 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.oklahomahof.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[College Football Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1951<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe (1951) - Hall of Fame |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1264#:~:text=The%20honors%20piled%20up:%201950,to%20Pro%20Football%20Hall%20of |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=National Football Foundation |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1963<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/jim-thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=pfhof |language=en}}</ref>
** Statue of Jim Thorpe in the lobby of the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=timtrudell |date=August 9, 2015 |title=Pro Football Hall of Fame great way to kick off NFL season |url=https://thewalkingtourists.com/pro-football-hall-of-fame-great-way-to-kick-off-nfl-season/ |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=The Walking Tourists |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1963<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pittsburgh |first=1629 Augusta Drive |last2=Pa 15237412-779-8664 |title=Inductees |url=https://www.pasportshof.org/inductees/?filter_1=1963&filter_4=&gv_search=&mode=all#gv-view-451-1 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=PA Sports Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
* American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame – Inaugural Class of 1972<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Indian Hall of Fame |url=https://www.aiahof.com/inductees.php |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=www.aiahof.com}}</ref>
* [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]] – Class of 1975<ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-06-13 |title=Track Hall To Induct Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/13/archives/track-hall-to-induct-jim-thorpe.html |access-date=2025-04-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[United States Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame|U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1983<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Maddie |date=2019-07-21 |title=Jim Thorpe {{!}} Pentathlon and Decathlon {{!}} U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame |url=https://usopm.org/jim-thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Jim Thorpe Association#Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame|Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 1986<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-25 |title=Inaugural Class of 1986 |url=https://oklahomasportshalloffame.wordpress.com/inaugural-class-of-1986/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame |language=en}}</ref>
** [[Statue of Jim Thorpe]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Life of Olympian/baseballer Jim Thorpe honoured in Oklahoma|publisher=World Baseball Softball Confederation|date=January 31, 2024|url=https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/life-of-olympianbaseballer-jim-thorpe-honoured-in-oklahoma|access-date=May 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[American Football Kicking Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 2008<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fame |first=American Football Kicking Hall of |title=American Football Kicking Hall of Fame |url=https://americanfootballkickinghalloffame.com/jim-thorpe |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=American Football Kicking Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[National Native American Hall of Fame]] – Inaugural Class of 2018<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fame |first=National Native American Hall of |date=2021-01-27 |title=JIM THORPESAC AND FOX NATION - NNAHOF |url=https://nativehalloffame.org/jim-thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=National Native American Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [https://www.aausports.org/news/highlight-of-2023-an-aau-hall-of-fame-induction-for-jim-thorpe/ Middle Atlantic AAU Hall of Fame] – Class of 2023

===Track and field===
* [[United States Olympic trials (track and field)|U.S. Olympic Trials]] [[Pentathlon]] Champion (May 18, 1912)
** 1st place – [[Long jump|Running broad jump]]
** 1st place – [[200 metres]]
** 1st place – [[Discus throw]]
** 2nd place – [[1500 metres]]
** 2nd place – [[Javelin throw]]
* 2× [https://www.olympic-museum.de/prizes/1912/challenge_prizes_1912.php Olympic Challenge Prize Winner] (1912)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/brightpathstrong/videos/926439641420257/|title=Bright Path Strong Video|website=Facebook|publisher=Bright Path Strong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250428011613/https://www.facebook.com/brightpathstrong/videos/926439641420257/|archive-date=2025-04-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>
** The Swedish King's Challenge Prize Trophy
** The Emperor of Russia's Challenge Prize Trophy
* 2× [[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic]] gold medalist ([[1912 Summer Olympics|1912]])<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-15 |title=Jim Thorpe - Prague Chamber of Commerce |url=https://www.praguechamber.org/jim-thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |language=en-US}}</ref>
** [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's pentathlon|1912 Olympic Pentathlon gold medal]]<ref name="sr">{{cite web|title=Jim Thorpe|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html|access-date=May 28, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175027/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/jim-thorpe-1.html|archive-date=April 17, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*** 1st place – [[Long jump]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[200 metres]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[Discus throw]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[1500 metres]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 3rd place – [[Javelin throw]]<ref name="sr"/>
** [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon|1912 Olympic Decathlon gold medal]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[Shot put]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[High jump]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[110 metres hurdles]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 1st place – [[1500 metres]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 3rd place – [[Long jump]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 3rd place – [[Discus throw]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** Tied-3rd place – [[100 metres]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** Tied-3rd place – [[Pole vault]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 4th place – [[Javelin throw]]<ref name="sr"/>
*** 4th place – [[400 metres]]<ref name="sr"/>
* 4th place in the [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump|1912 Olympic Men's High Jump]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Memorial and Monument for Jim Thorpe |url=https://theclio.com/entry/12367 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Clio |language=en}}</ref>
* 7th place in the [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump|1912 Olympic Men's Long Jump]]<ref name=":2" />
* [[Amateur Athletic Union]] All-Around Championships gold medal (September 2, 1912){{efn|First place in seven of the ten events contested, and came in second in the remaining three.}}<ref name="The Carlisle Arrow">[https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/sites/default/files/docs-publications/CarlisleArrow_v09n02.pdf Carlisle Arrow, Page 10]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe Biography - BiographyDocuments.org |url=https://www.biographydocuments.org/sports-athletics/jim-thorpe.html |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.biographydocuments.org}}</ref>
** Record-breaking 7,476 points{{efn|The former record was 7,385, made by [[Martin Sheridan]] in 1909.}}
* The [[Thorpe Cup]], an annual international decathlon and heptathlon meeting between the [[United States]] and [[Germany]], is named in his honor (1993)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thorpe Cup :: GER vs. USA |url=http://tc.zehnkampfteam.de/index_en.php |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=tc.zehnkampfteam.de}}</ref>

===Football===
* 3× [[Ohio League]] champion ([[1916 Canton Bulldogs season|1916]], [[1917 Canton Bulldogs season|1917]], [[1919 Canton Bulldogs season|1919]])
* First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1923 All-Pro Team|1923]])<ref>{{cite web|title=1923 NFL All-Pros|work=Pro Football Reference|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1923/allpro.htm|access-date=May 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team|NFL 1920s All-Decade Team]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Teams – 1920s|work=Pro Football Reference|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/awards/pfhof_all_decade_1920.htm|access-date=May 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team|NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Unitas QBs NFL Team|date=September 7, 1969|newspaper=The Tampa Tribune-Times|page=5-F|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48315094/nfl-50th-anniversary-team/|access-date=May 28, 2025|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
* First [[Commissioner of the NFL]] (1920–1921)
; As a coach
* 3× Ohio League champion ([[1916 Canton Bulldogs season|1916]], [[1917 Canton Bulldogs season|1917]], [[1919 Canton Bulldogs season|1919]])

===College===
'''College Football'''
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS#Other selectors|National Champion (''BL'')]] (1911)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Libby National Champions |url=https://www.billlibby.com/libby-national-champions |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Bill Libby |language=en}}</ref>
* [[List of Heisman Trophy winners#Retroactive selections|Heisman Trophy]] ([[National Football Foundation|NFF]]) (1911)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Retroactive Heisman Winners |url=http://www.footballfoundation.org/Portals/7/nff/file_file/2009_footballetter_issue_3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126011919/http://www.footballfoundation.org/Portals/7/nff/file_file/2009_footballetter_issue_3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-26|access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=Football Foundation}}</ref>
* Third-team All-American ([[1908 College Football All-America Team|1908]])
** [[Walter Camp|WC]] third-team All-American (1908)
** [[The Philadelphia Inquirer|''PI'']] All-American team (1908)
* 2× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1911 College Football All-America Team|1911]], [[1912 College Football All-America Team|1912]])
** 2× [[Walter Camp|WC]] first-team All-American (1911, 1912)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Walter Camp All-Americans By Year |url=https://waltercamp.org/walter-camp-all-america-team-by-year/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=waltercamp.org}}</ref>
** [[Wilton S. Farnsworth|WSF]] second-team All-American (1911)
** [[Charles Chadwick (athlete)|CC]] first-team All-American (1911)
** [[Outing (magazine)|''HL'']] All-American team (1911)
** [[Baseball Magazine|''BM'']] All-American team (1991)
** [[The Christian Science Monitor|''CSM'']] All-American team (1911)
** [[The Post-Standard|''SPS'']] All-American team (1911)
** COMP{{efn|Louis A. Douglier of the ''Washington Times'', picked what he terms the composite All-Star football team, after studying the selections made by 23 newspaper writers.}} first-team All-American (1912)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Saskatoon Phoenix - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nrdfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3082,8863059&dq=brickley+thorpe+felton&hl=en |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=news.google.com}}</ref>
** [[The New York Sun|''NYS'']] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[The Philadelphia Inquirer|''PI'']] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[The Christian Science Monitor|''CSM'']] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[The Baltimore Sun|''BS'']] All-American team (1912)
** [[Robert W. Edgren|RE]]{{efn|sports editor for ''[[The Evening World]]''.}} first-team All-American (1912)
** WJM{{efn|Selected by sports writer William James MacBeth of the [[New York Journal-American|''New York American'']].}} first-team All-American (1912)
** ASH{{efn|Selected by Alfred S. Harvey of the [[List of newspapers in Wisconsin#Defunct|''Milwaukee Free Press'']].}} first-team All-American
** TC{{efn|Selected by Tommy Clark.}} first-team All-American (1912)
** [[Parke H. Davis|PHD]] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[Pop Warner|PW]] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[The Times (Trenton)|''TET'']] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[Hamilton Fish III|HF]] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[The Philadelphia Press|''PP'']] first-team All-American (1912)
** [[Record-Journal|''MDJ'']] first-team All-American (1912)
* [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] "unofficial" [[Interception#Gridiron football|interceptions]] leader (1912)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Game-Season-Career Statistical Leaders Pre-1937 |url=https://www.secsportsfan.com/support-files/pre-1937cfbleaders.pdf |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=SEC Sports Fan}}</ref>
* [[List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders#Pre-1937 unofficial data|NCAA "unofficial" scoring leader]] (1912)<ref name=":1" />
* [[List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders#Pre-1937 unofficial data|NCAA "unofficial" touchdowns leader]] (1912)<ref>{{Cite web |title=College Football Hall of Famers Who Are Olympic Medalist |url=https://www.cfbhall.com/news-and-happenings/blog/college-football-hall-of-famers-who-are-olympic-medalist/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.cfbhall.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 3× [[List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders#Pre-1937 unofficial data|NCAA "unofficial" rushing yards leader]] (1908, 1911, 1912)<ref name=":1" />
* 3× [[List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders|NCAA "unofficial" total offense leader]] (1908, 1911, 1912)<ref name=":1" />
* [[Carlisle Indians football#All-time team|Carlisle Indians All-Time Team]]
* The [[Jim Thorpe Award]], named in his memory, has been awarded to the top [[defensive back]] in [[college football]] since 1986<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe Award Winners - NCAA College Football Awards - ESPN |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/awards/_/id/10 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref>

'''Track and Field'''{{efn|The true number of track meets participated in and won is unknown. The following results can be found from a collection of newspaper clippings referenced here.<ref name="Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center">[https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/sites/default/files/docs-ephemera/NARA_1327_b037_f1783.pdf Jim Thorpe Collection]</ref>}}
* [[Penn Relays]] (1908)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Penn Relays |url=https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:7055a582-0ac2-488c-b6e6-1c0e5b90dc34 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=acrobat.adobe.com}}</ref>
** Tied-1st place – [[High jump]]
* [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School|Carlisle]] vs [[Syracuse University|Syracuse]] Dual Meet (1908)
** 1st place – [[Hurdling|High hurdles]]
** 1st place – Low hurdles
** 1st place – [[Shot put]]
** 1st place – [[High jump]]
** 1st place – [[Long jump|Broad jump]]
** 2nd place – [[Hammer throw]]
* [[Pennsylvania]] Intercollegiate Championships in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg, PA]] (1908)
** 1st place – [[Hurdling|High hurdles]]
** 1st place – Low hurdles
** 1st place – [[High jump]]
** 1st place – [[Long jump|Broad jump]]
** 1st place – [[Hammer throw]]
* Middle Atlantic Athletic Association Championships in [[Philadelphia]] (1908)
** 1st place – [[High hurdles]]
** 1st place – Low hurdles
** 1st place – [[High jump]]
** 1st place – [[Long jump|Broad jump]]
** 1st place – [[Hammer throw]]
* Carlisle vs [[Lafayette College|Lafayette]] Dual Meet (1909)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thorpe, James Francis ("Jim") {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/thorpe-james-francis-jim |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=https://hebfdn.org/portfolio/jim-thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=H. E. Butt Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
** 1st place – [[Hurdling|High hurdles]]
** 1st place – Low hurdles
** 1st place – [[High jump]]
** 1st place – [[Long jump]]
** 1st place – [[Shot put]]
** 1st place – [[Discus throw]]
** 3rd place – [[100-yard dash]]
* Middle Atlantic Indoor Championship Games at the [[Paterson Armory|Second Regiment Armory]] (1912)
** 1st place – 75-yard dash
** 1st place – [[55 metres hurdles#60 yards hurdles|60 yard high hurdles]]
** 1st place – [[High jump]]
** 1st place – [[Shot put]]
** 2nd place – [[Standing triple jump]]

'''Ballroom Dancing'''
* Inter-Collegiate [[Ballroom dance|Ballroom Dancing]] Champion (1912)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fame |first=Oklahoma Sports Hall of |title=Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame |url=https://oklahomasportshalloffame.org/jim-thorpe-museum |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Media===
* [[Associated Press]]'s Athlete of the Half-Century (1950)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-16 |title=Jim Thorpe reinstated as sole winner for 1912 Olympic golds |url=https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-native-americans-stockholm-sweden-5cbe83bde828487ce2f82e3066850d85 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Associated Press]]'s Greatest Football Player of the Half-Century (1950)<ref>{{Cite web |title=#GoingDeep: The Legend of Jim Thorpe {{!}} Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover/going-deep/The-Legend-of-Jim-Thorpe |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=baseballhall.org}}</ref>
* Ranked #2 after [[Jesse Owens]] on the [[Associated Press]]'s Greatest Track and Field Athletes of the Half-Century (1950)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1950-01-27 |title=Jesse Owens Recall Thrills as Cinder-Ella Man of Era (Ralph Metcalfe) January 27, 1950 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-jesse-owens-recall-thril/157502038/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=40}}</ref>
* Shortly after his death in 1953, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]'' named him The Greatest Athlete<ref>{{Cite web |last=Time |date=April 6, 1953 |title=Sport: The Greatest Athlete |url=https://time.com/archive/6620473/sport-the-greatest-athlete/ |access-date=May 1, 2025 |website=Time |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Sport (American magazine)|''Sport Magazine'']]'s Greatest Athlete of All Time (1977)<ref>{{Cite web |title=James Francis Thorpe Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=116724#:~:text=1977:%20Voted%20%22The%20Greatest%20American,the%20public%20about%20his%20accomplishments. |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>
* Ranked #3 on the [[Associated Press]]'s Top 100 Athletes of the 20th Century (1999)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 100 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century |url=https://www.topendsports.com/world/lists/greatest-all-time/athletes-ap-sports100.htm |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.topendsports.com}}</ref>
* Ranked #7 on [[SportsCentury#SportsCentury: Top 50 American Athletes of the 20th Century (Original series)|ESPN ''SportsCentury'': Top 50 North American Athletes of the 20th Century]] (1999)<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPN.com: Top N. American athletes of the century |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/athletes.html |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.espn.com}}</ref>
* Named America's Athlete of the Century by a resolutions of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] and [[United States senate|Senate]] (1999)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sen. Santorum |first=Rick [R-PA |date=1999-05-03 |title=All Info - S.Res.91 - 106th Congress (1999-2000): A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that Jim Thorpe should be recognized as the "Athlete of the Century". |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/senate-resolution/91/all-info |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref>
* [[Wide World of Sports (American TV program)|''ABC's Wide World of Sports'']] Athlete of the Century (2000)<ref>{{Cite web |title=JIM THORPE "WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE" Ultrafamous Native American Indian Sac & Fox Sports Legend |url=https://www.californiaindianeducation.org/sports_heros/jim_thorpe/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.californiaindianeducation.org}}</ref>
* In 2008, ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' retroactively named Thorpe the [[Heisman Trophy]] winner for the 1911 and 1912 seasons<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-12-12 |title=Who would have won the Heisman from 1900-1934 |url=https://www.si.com/college/2008/12/12/early-heisman |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=SI |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Ranked #2 on [[Bleacher Report]]'s Top 10 Greatest Athletes of All Time (2018)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Farrand |first=Greg |title=The Top Ten Athletes Of All Time |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/53310-the-top-ten-athletes-of-all-time |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=bleacherreport.com |language=en}}</ref>
* Ranked #5 on [[ESPN]]'s Top 150 College Football Players of All Time (2020)<ref name=":3" />
* Ranked #7 on [[GiveMeSport]]'s list of Top 50 Greatest Athletes of All Time (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tong |first=Kobe |date=February 1, 2022 |title=The top 50 greatest athletes of all time have been named – Ronaldo and Messi miss out on top 10 |url=https://www.givemesport.com/greatest-athletes-of-all-time/ |access-date=May 2, 2025 |website=GiveMeSport |language=en}}</ref>

==Marriage and family==
Thorpe married three times and had a total of eight children. In 1913, Thorpe married Iva M. Miller,<ref name="NYTobit" /> whom he had met at Carlisle. In 1917, Iva and Thorpe bought a house now known as the [[Jim Thorpe House]] in [[Yale, Oklahoma]], and lived there until 1923.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form |url={{NRHP url|id=71000673}} |access-date=December 19, 2014 |publisher=National Park Service |format=PDF}}</ref> Their young son Jim Thorpe Jr. died in 1918.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/09/29/archives/thorpes-son-dies-in-oklahoma.html|title=Thorpe's Son Dies in Oklahoma.|date=September 29, 1918|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> They had four other children: James F., Gale, Charlotte, and [[Grace Thorpe|Grace Frances]], an environmentalist and Native rights activist.<ref name="NYTobit" /><ref name="Grace:4">{{Cite web |date=April 2008 |title=Thorpe, Grace: Daughter of Jim Thorpe passes on |url=http://www.indiancountrynews.com/index.php/walking-on-sections-menu-57/2985-thorpe-grace-daughter-of-jim-thorpe-passes-on |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806102536/http://www.indiancountrynews.com/index.php/walking-on-sections-menu-57/2985-thorpe-grace-daughter-of-jim-thorpe-passes-on |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2023 |website=Indian Country News |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Miller filed for divorce from Thorpe in 1925, claiming desertion.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930072449/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,720180,00.html List of marriages, divorces, births, and deaths], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', April 6, 1925, available online via time.com. Retrieved May 21, 2007.</ref>

In 1926, Thorpe married Freeda Verona Kirkpatrick (September 19, 1905 – March 2, 2007). She was working for the manager of the baseball team for which he was playing at the time.<ref name="Freeda">{{Cite news |date=March 7, 2007 |title=Athlete Thorpe's 2nd wife, Freeda, dies at 101 |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Athlete-Thorpe-s-2nd-wife-Freeda-dies-at-101-1230507.php |access-date=June 1, 2017 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> They had four sons: Phillip, William, Richard, and John Thorpe.<ref name="NYTobit" /> Kirkpatrick divorced Thorpe in 1941, after they had been married for 15&nbsp;years.<ref name="Freeda" />

Lastly, Thorpe married Patricia Gladys Askew on June 2, 1945.<ref name="NYTobit" /> She was with him when he died.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|p=366}}

== Later life, film career, and death ==
[[File:Tomb of Jim Thorpe b.jpg|thumb|alt=A brick tomb of Jim Thorpe inscribed with depictions of his career and the quote from King Gustav V|Tomb of Jim Thorpe]]

After his athletic career, Thorpe struggled to provide for his family. He found it difficult to work a non-sports-related job and never held a job for an extended period of time. During the [[Great Depression]] in particular, he had various jobs, among others as a movie actor, mostly as an [[extra (drama)|extra]], usually playing an American Indian in [[Western movie|Westerns]],{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|pp=144–145}} starting with the 1931 serial ''[[Battling with Buffalo Bill]]''.<ref name="AIM">{{Cite magazine |last1=Wheeler |first1=Bob |last2=Ridlon |first2=Florence |last3=Wheeler |first3=Rob |date=Spring 2015 |title=Akapamata: The Forgotten Hollywood Legacy Of Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/akapamata-forgotten-hollywood-legacy-jim-thorpe |access-date=August 17, 2024 |magazine=American Indian Magazine |volume=16 |number=1}}</ref> In the 1932 comedy ''[[Always Kickin'|Always Kickin']]'', Thorpe was prominently cast in a speaking part as himself, a kicking coach teaching young football players to [[drop-kick]].{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=145}} He played the captain of the guard in 1935's ''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shaffer |first=George |date=April 11, 1935 |title=Penny matching piles up $3,000 charity fund |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |page=19 |id={{ProQuest|181569593}}}}</ref> an umpire in the 1940 film ''[[Knute Rockne, All American]]'',{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=313–314}} and a member of the Navajo Nation in the 1950 film ''[[Wagon Master]]''.{{Sfn|Hilger|2016|p=324}} An ''[[American Indian Magazine]]'' article states Thorpe appeared in over 70 films.<ref name="AIM" />

In 1931, during the Great Depression, Thorpe sold the film rights to his life story to [[MGM]] for $1,500 ({{inflation|US|1500|1931|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).{{inflation-fn|US}}{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=145}} [[Warner Bros.]] eventually acquired the rights and memorialized Thorpe in ''[[Jim Thorpe – All-American]]'' (1951), starring [[Burt Lancaster]]. The film was directed by [[Michael Curtiz]].{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=341, 353}} Although there were rumors that Thorpe received no money, he was paid $15,000 by Warner Bros. plus a $2,500 donation toward an annuity for him by the studio's head of publicity.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=355–356}} The movie included archival footage of the 1912 and 1932 Olympics.<ref name="medal">{{Cite magazine |last=Thorp |first=Charles |title=8 Olympic Movies That Medal |url=http://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/collections/8-olympic-movies-that-medal-w433488/jim-thorpe-all-american-w433494 |access-date=June 15, 2017 |magazine=Men's Journal}}</ref> Thorpe was seen in one scene as a coaching assistant.<ref name="medal" /> It was also distributed in the United Kingdom, where it was called ''Man of Bronze''.{{Sfn|Williams|2006|p=133}}

Apart from his career in films, he worked as a construction worker, a [[bouncer (doorman)|doorman/bouncer]], a security guard, and a ditchdigger. He briefly joined the [[United States Merchant Marine]] in 1945, during World War II.{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|pp=144–145}}<ref name="time1943">{{Cite magazine |date=February 22, 1943 |title=Unnamed TIME Article |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774347,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020184053/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774347,00.html |archive-date=October 20, 2007 |magazine=Time}}</ref> Thorpe was a chronic alcoholic during his later life.{{Sfn|Jeansonne|Luhrssen|2006|p=61}} He ran out of money sometime in the early&nbsp;1950s. When hospitalized for lip cancer in 1950, Thorpe was admitted as a charity case.<ref name="lip">{{Cite news |date=November 10, 1951 |title=Thorpe Has Cancerous Growth Removed From Lip in Hospital at Philadelphia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/11/10/archives/thorpe-has-cancerous-growth-removed-from-lip-in-hospital-at.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 23, 2007 |work=The New York Times |page=S12 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> At a press conference announcing the procedure, his wife, Patricia, wept and pleaded for help, saying, "We're broke&nbsp;... Jim has nothing but his name and his memories. He has spent money on his own people and has given it away. He has often been exploited."<ref name="lip" />

In early 1953, Thorpe went into [[heart failure]] for the third time while dining with Patricia in their home in [[Lomita, California]]. He was briefly revived by [[artificial respiration]] and spoke to those around him, but lost consciousness shortly afterward. He died on March 28 at the age of 65.<ref name="NYTobit" />

==Victim of racism==
Thorpe, whose parents were both mixed-race, was raised as a Native American. He accomplished his athletic feats despite the severe racial inequality of the United States. It has often been suggested that his Olympic medals were stripped by the athletic officials because of his ethnicity.<ref>Watterson. p. 151.<br />* Elfers. p. 18.</ref> While it is difficult to prove this, the public comment at the time largely reflected this view.{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=50}} At the time Thorpe won his gold medals, not all Native Americans were recognized as U.S.&nbsp;citizens (the U.S.&nbsp;government had frequently demanded that they make concessions to adopt European-American ways to receive such recognition). Citizenship was not granted to all American Indians until 1924.{{Sfn|Lincoln|Slagle|1997|p=282}}

When Thorpe attended Carlisle, the students' ethnicity was used for marketing purposes.<ref name="Bloom" /> The football team was called the Indians. To create headlines, the school and journalists often portrayed sporting competitions as conflicts of Indians against whites.<ref name="Bloom">Bloom quoted in Bird. p. 97.</ref> The first notice of Thorpe in ''The New York Times'' was headlined "Indian Thorpe in Olympiad; Redskin from Carlisle Will Strive for Place on American Team."<ref name="Redskin" /> Throughout his life, Thorpe's accomplishments were described in a similar racial context by other newspapers and sportswriters, which reflected the era.<ref>Demaree, Al. "Thorpe, the Indian, Best All-American", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', November 24, 1926. p. C4.<br />* "Jim Thorpe Dies of Heart Attack at 64", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Associated Press, March 29, 1953. p. A1.<br />* Roetman, Sheena L. [https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-thanksgiving-reminder-jim-thorpe-is-a-native-american-hero/ "America's Greatest Athlete Ever, Jim Thorpe, Was Indigenous"], Vice Media, November 27, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2018.</ref>

==Legacy==

=== Olympic awards reinstated ===
[[File:2018 Native American Dollar Reverse.jpg|thumb|alt=One dollar coin depicting a headshot and two body shots of Thorpe competing. The text reads "Jim Thorpe / Wa-Tho-Huk" on top and "United States of America" on the bottom.|Thorpe is featured on the reverse of the 2018 [[Sacagawea dollar]].]]

Over the years, supporters of Thorpe attempted to have his Olympic titles reinstated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Dave |date=June 22, 1975 |title=Jim Thorpe's Medals |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/dave-anderson-jim-thorpes-medals.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 19, 2016 |work=The New York Times |page=S5}}</ref> American Olympic officials, including former teammate and later president of the IOC [[Avery Brundage]], rebuffed several attempts. Brundage once said, "Ignorance is no excuse."<ref name="SI2004" /> Most persistent were the author Robert Wheeler and his wife, Florence Ridlon. They succeeded in having the AAU and [[United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee|United States Olympic Committee]] overturn its decision and restore Thorpe's amateur status before 1913.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wethe |first1=David |last2=Whiteley |first2=Michael |date=July 21, 2002 |title=Legends lunches begin this fall with Bob Lilly |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2002/07/22/newscolumn1.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=www.bizjournals.com}}</ref>

In 1982, Wheeler and Ridlon established the Jim Thorpe Foundation and gained support from the [[United States Congress|U.S.&nbsp;Congress]]. Armed with this support and evidence from 1912 proving that Thorpe's disqualification had occurred after the 30-day time period allowed by Olympics rules, they succeeded in making the case to the IOC. In October 1982, the IOC Executive Committee approved Thorpe's reinstatement.<ref name="Anderson" /> In an unusual ruling, they declared that Thorpe was co-champion with [[Ferdinand Bie]] and [[Hugo Wieslander]], although both of these athletes had always said they considered Thorpe to be the only champion. In a ceremony on January 18, 1983, the IOC presented two of Thorpe's children, Gale and Bill, with commemorative medals.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Mather |first1=Victor |last2=Panja |first2=Tariq |date=July 15, 2022 |title=Jim Thorpe Is Restored as Sole Winner of 1912 Olympic Gold Medals |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/sports/olympics/jim-thorpe-olympics-medal-restored.html |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="Anderson">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Anderson (sportswriter) |date=February 7, 1983 |title=Jim Thorpe's Family Feud |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/07/sports/jim-thorpe-s-family-feud.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 23, 2007 |work=The New York Times |page=C4}}</ref> Thorpe's original medals had been held in museums, but they were stolen and have never been recovered.{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=132}} The IOC listed Thorpe as a co-gold medalist.<ref name="recognized" />

In July 2020, a petition from Bright Path Strong<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bengel |first=Chris |date=July 16, 2020 |title=Petition filed to restore Jim Thorpe's status as sole gold medalist |url=https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/petition-filed-to-restore-jim-thorpes-status-as-sole-gold-medalist/ |access-date=August 8, 2022 |website=CBS Sports}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2022 |title=Jim Thorpe is reinstated as the sole winner of two events in the 1912 Olympics |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/15/1111739166/jim-thorpe-reinstated-1912-olympics |access-date=August 8, 2022 |publisher=NPR |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> began circulating that called upon the IOC to reinstate Thorpe as the sole winner in his events in the 1912 Olympics. It was backed by Pictureworks Entertainment, which is making a film about Thorpe. The petition was supported by Olympian [[Billy Mills]], who won a gold medal in the 10,000&nbsp;meters at the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Tokyo Games]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlson |first=Jenni |date=July 15, 2020 |title=Jim Thorpe petition drive starts to restore his status as sole winner of 1912 Olympic gold medals |url=https://oklahoman.com/article/5666861/jim-thorpe-petition-drive-starts-to-restore-his-status-as-sole-winner-of-1912-olympic-gold-medals |access-date=July 17, 2020 |website=The Oklahoman}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barker |first=Philip |date=July 15, 2020 |title=Campaign launched to recognise Thorpe as sole champion from Stockholm 1912 |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1096326/stockholm-campaign-thorpe-golds |access-date=July 17, 2020 |publisher=Inside the Games}}</ref> The IOC voted to reinstate Thorpe as the sole winner of both events on July 14, 2022, after the National Olympic Committees of Norway and Sweden, representing Bie and Wieslander, had given their approval.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Schaap |first=Jeremy |date=July 15, 2022 |title=IOC reinstates Jim Thorpe as sole winner of 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/34245374/ioc-reinstates-jim-thorpe-sole-winner-1912-olympic-decathlon-pentathlon |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=[[ESPN.com]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 15, 2022 |title=IOC to display the name of Jim Thorpe as sole Stockholm 1912 pentathlon and decathlon gold medallist |url=https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-to-display-the-name-of-jim-thorpe-as-sole-stockholm-1912-pentathlon-and-decathlon-gold-medallist |access-date=October 2, 2023 |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]]}}</ref>

===Honors===
[[File:JimThorpeGoudeycard.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Sports card of Jim Thorpe. In the center, he is shown from the torso up wearing his jersey.|1933 [[Goudey]] Sport Kings card of Thorpe]]
Thorpe's tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation, added Olympic rings to their official flag to honor him.<ref name=ohs/>

Thorpe's monument, featuring the quote from Gustav&nbsp;V ("You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."), still stands near the town named for him, [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]].{{Sfn|Hoxie|1996|p=628}} The grave rests on mounds of soil from Thorpe's native Oklahoma and from the stadium in which he won his Olympic medals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe, PA - Jim Thorpe's Tourist Attraction Grave |url=https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/3583 |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=www.roadsideamerica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Thorpe's achievements received great acclaim from sports journalists, both during his lifetime and since his death. In 1950, an [[Associated Press]] poll of almost 400&nbsp;sportswriters and broadcasters voted Thorpe the "greatest athlete" of the first half of the 20th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574686/Jim_Thorpe.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908004723/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574686/Jim_Thorpe.html |archive-date=September 8, 2007 |website=encarta.msn.com}}</ref> That same year, the [[Associated Press]] ranked Thorpe as the "greatest American football player" of the first half of the century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography - The Official Licensing Website of Jim Thorpe |url=http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/biography/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Jim Thorpe |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] voters selected him for the [[National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team|NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 7, 1969 |title=Unitas QBs NFL Team |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48315094/nfl-50th-anniversary-team/ |access-date=May 1, 2020 |work=The Tampa Tribune |page=5-F |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In 1999, the Associated Press placed him third on its list of the top athletes of the century, following [[Babe Ruth]] and [[Michael Jordan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 100 athletes of the 20th century |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ssat2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312070523/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ssat2.htm |archive-date=March 12, 2009 |website=USA Today |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> [[ESPN]] ranked Thorpe seventh on their list of best North American athletes of the century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top N. American athletes of the century |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/athletes.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref>

Thorpe was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1963, one of seventeen players in the charter class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hall of Famers by Year of Enshrinement |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/years.aspx |access-date=September 6, 2012 |publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame}}</ref> Thorpe is memorialized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame rotunda with a larger-than-life statue. He was also inducted into halls of fame for college football, American Olympic teams, and the national track and field competition.<ref name="CNN" />

In 2018, Thorpe became one of the inductees in the first induction ceremony held by the [[National Native American Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 22, 2018 |title=National Native American Hall of Fame names first twelve historic inductees |url=https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/national-native-american-hall-of-fame-names-first-twelve-historic-inductees-e-Uu9NZBh0K9TPrv992tyQ/ |access-date=October 22, 2018 |publisher=IndianCountryToday.com}}</ref> The fitness center and a hall at [[Haskell Indian Nations University]] are named in honor of Thorpe.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2016 |title=Haskell Indian Nations University Directory |url=https://www.haskell.edu/info/directory/ |access-date=January 10, 2018 |publisher=[[Haskell Indian Nations University]]}}</ref>

President [[Richard Nixon]], as authorized by U.S.&nbsp;Senate Joint Resolution&nbsp;73, proclaimed Monday, April 16, 1973, as "Jim Thorpe Day" to promote nationwide recognition of Thorpe's life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proclamation 4209—Jim Thorpe Day |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4209-jim-thorpe-day |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=The American Presidency Project}}</ref> In 1986, the Jim Thorpe Association established an award with Thorpe's name. The [[Jim Thorpe Award]] is given annually to the best [[defensive back]] in [[college football]]. The annual [[Thorpe Cup]] athletics meeting is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=16 Jahre "Thorpe Cup" |url=http://www.zehnkampfteam.de/statistiken/thorpe-cup/historie/geschichte.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405053554/http://www.zehnkampfteam.de/statistiken/thorpe-cup/historie/geschichte.html |archive-date=April 5, 2010 |access-date=August 10, 2010 |website=Zehnkampf.de |language=de}}</ref> The [[United States Postal Service]] issued a 32¢ stamp on February 3, 1998, as part of the [[Celebrate the Century]] stamp sheet series.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2011 |title=American Indian Subjects on United States Postage Stamps |url=http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/american-indian-stamp-subjects-2011.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330072458/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/american-indian-stamp-subjects-2011.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2013 |access-date=July 28, 2013 |publisher=United States Postal Service}}</ref>

In a poll of sports fans published in 2000 by [[ESPN on ABC|ABC&nbsp;Sports]], Thorpe was voted the Greatest Athlete of the Twentieth Century; the pool of 15 other top athletes included [[Muhammad Ali]], [[Pelé]], Babe Ruth, [[Jesse Owens]], [[Wayne Gretzky]], [[Jack Nicklaus]], and Michael Jordan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 14, 2000 |title=Wide World of Sports athlete of the century |url=https://www.espn.com/endofcentury/s/century/wwos.html |access-date=February 6, 2012 |publisher=ESPN Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Thorpe: All-Around Athlete and American Indian Advocate |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/sports/exhibit/champions/thorpe/index.cfm |access-date=February 6, 2012 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>

In 2018, Thorpe was honored with the [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to amateur sports.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AAU Crawford Award {{!}} AAU |url=https://www.aausports.org/aau-crawford-award/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.aausports.org |language=en}}</ref> That same year, he was also commemorated on the [[Sacagawea dollar|Native American dollar]] coin;<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2018 |title=United States Mint to Release 2018 Native American $1 Coin Products on February 15 |url=https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-to-release-2018-native-american-1-coin-products-on-february-15 |access-date=April 26, 2019 |publisher=United States Mint}}</ref> proposed designs were released in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Unser |first=Mike |date=November 6, 2015 |title=2018 Native American 2018 Native American $1 Coin Designs Depict Jim Thorpe Coin Designs Depict Jim Thorpe |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2015/11/06/2018-native-american-1-coin-designs-depict-jim-thorpe/ |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=CoinNews |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2024, President [[Joe Biden]] announced that Thorpe would be awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian honor given in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schad |first=Tom |date=May 3, 2024 |title=Katie Ledecky, Jim Thorpe among 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients by Joe Biden |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/05/03/katie-ledecky-jim-thorpe-awarded-presidential-medal-of-freedom/73549309007/ |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref>

===Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania===
[[File:Jim Thorpe Statue.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Statue of Jim Thorpe dashing while carrying a football in front of a group of trees|One of the two statues of Thorpe located in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]]

After Thorpe's funeral was held at St. Benedict's Catholic Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 13, 1953 |title=Jim Thorpe Body Arrives Home For Burial Rite |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19530413&id=1G9gAAAAIBAJ&pg=5892,2267660&hl=en |access-date=July 14, 2016 |work=The Wilmington News |page=9 |agency=United Press}}</ref> his body lay in state at Fairview Cemetery. Residents had paid to have it returned to Shawnee by train from California.{{Sfn|Buford|2012|pp=367–369}} The people began a fund-raising effort to erect a memorial for Thorpe at the town's athletic park. Local officials had asked state legislators for funding, but a bill that included $25,000 for their proposal was vetoed by Governor [[Johnston Murray]].{{Sfn|Wheeler|1979|pp=228–229}}

Meanwhile, Thorpe's third wife, unbeknownst to the rest of his family, took Thorpe's body and had it shipped to Pennsylvania when she heard that the small Pennsylvania towns of [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania|Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk]] were seeking to attract business.<ref name="wsj">{{Cite news |last=Hagerty |first=James R. |date=July 21, 2010 |title=Is There Life After Jim Thorpe For Jim Thorpe, Pa.? |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |page=A14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zucchino |first=David |date=October 18, 2013 |title=Jim Thorpe, Pa., fights to keep its namesake |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-jim-thorpe-body-20131018-dto-htmlstory.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> She made a deal with officials which, according to Thorpe's son Jack, was made by the widowed Patricia for monetary considerations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2010 |title=Frank Deford of ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'' interviews Jack Thorpe |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXogaDT5Zm0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/iXogaDT5Zm0 |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |access-date=July 9, 2012 |publisher=HBO (official channel on YouTube)}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The towns "bought" Thorpe's remains, erected a monument to him at the grave, merged, and renamed the newly united town in his honor as [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania]]. Thorpe had never been there.{{Sfn|O'Hanlon-Lincoln|2004|p=148}} The monument site contains his tomb,<ref name="body" /> two statues of him in athletic poses,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hedes |first=Jarrad |date=May 19, 2017 |title=Jim Thorpe plans to add third Olympian statue |url=https://www.tnonline.com/2017/may/19/jim-thorpe-plans-add-third-olympian-statue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120949/https://www.tnonline.com/2017/may/19/jim-thorpe-plans-add-third-olympian-statue |archive-date=January 19, 2018 |website=Lehighton Times News}}</ref> and historical markers recounting his life story.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Loverro |first=Thom |author-link=Thom Loverro |date=August 2, 2013 |title=Jim Thorpe sleeps on – for now – in town where everyone knows his name |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/02/jim-thorpe-pennsylvania-football-hall-fame |access-date=September 8, 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In June 2010, Jack Thorpe filed a federal lawsuit against the borough of Jim Thorpe, seeking to have his father's remains returned to his homeland and re-interred near other family members in Oklahoma. Citing the [[Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act]], Jack was arguing to bring his father's remains to the reservation in Oklahoma, to be buried near those of his father, sisters and brother, a mile from the place he was born. He claimed that the agreement between his stepmother and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, borough officials was made against the wishes of other family members, who want him buried in Native American land.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee, Peggy |date=June 24, 2010 |title=Son Of Jim Thorpe Sues for His Remains |url=http://www.wnep.com/wnep-carb-son-sues-jim-thorpe-body,0,1168347.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301142403/http://www.wnep.com/wnep-carb-son-sues-jim-thorpe-body%2C0%2C1168347.story |archive-date=March 1, 2012 |access-date=June 25, 2010 |work=wnep.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=June 25, 2010 |title=Jim Thorpe's son sues town of Jim Thorpe over location of athlete's remains |url=https://www.pennlive.com/midstate/2010/06/jim_thorpes_son_sues_town_of_j.html |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Patriot News |language=en |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref> Jack Thorpe died at 73 on February 22, 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zagofsky |first=Al |date=February 24, 2011 |title=Jim Thorpe's son Jack dies |url=http://www.tnonline.com/2011/feb/24/jim-thorpes-son-jack-dies |access-date=July 9, 2012 |website=Lehighton Times News}}</ref>

In April 2013, U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo ruled that Jim Thorpe borough amounts to a museum under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ("NAGPRA"), and therefore is bound by that law. A lawyer for Bill and Richard Thorpe said the men would pursue the legal process to have their father's remains returned to Sac and Fox land in central Oklahoma.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 21, 2013 |title=Judge Sides With Sons About Legendary Athlete Jim Thorpe's Remains |url=http://www.newson6.com/story/22028957/judge-orders-legendary-athlete-jim-thorpes-remains |access-date=April 21, 2013 |publisher=[[KOTV-DT]]}}</ref> On October 23, 2014, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]] reversed Judge Caputo's ruling. The appeals court held that Jim Thorpe borough is not a "museum", as that term is used in NAGPRA, and that the plaintiffs therefore could not invoke that federal statute to seek reinterment of Thorpe's remains.<ref name="body">{{Cite news |date=October 23, 2014 |title=Pennsylvania town named for Jim Thorpe can keep athlete's body |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pennsylvania-town-named-for-jim-thorpe-can-keep-athletes-body/ |access-date=October 24, 2014 |publisher=[[CBS News]]}}</ref> In NAGPRA language, "'museum' means any institution or State or local government agency (including any institution of higher learning) that receives Federal funds and has possession of, or control over, Native American cultural items."<ref>{{Cite web |title=25 USC Ch. 32: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation |url=http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title25-chapter32&edition=prelim |access-date=September 8, 2024 |website=Office of the Law Revision Counsel}}</ref> The Court of Appeals directed the trial court to enter a judgment in favor of the borough.<ref name="body" /> The appeals court said Pennsylvania law allows the plaintiffs to ask a state court to order reburial of Thorpe's remains, but noted, "once a body is interred there is great reluctance in permitting same to be moved, absent clear and compelling reasons for such a move."<ref>{{cite court |litigants=John Thorpe (et al) v. Borough of Jim Thorpe |opinion=No. 13-2446 |court=3d Cir. |url= http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/132446p.pdf |access-date=September 9, 2016}}</ref> On October 5, 2015, the [[United States Supreme Court]] refused to hear the matter, effectively bringing the legal process to an end.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hall |first=Peter |date=October 6, 2015 |title=U.S. Supreme Court: Jim Thorpe's body to remain in town that bears his name |url=http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20151006/NEWS/151009689 |access-date=October 13, 2015 |work=Pocono Record}}</ref>

===Jim Thorpe Marathon===
The Jim Thorpe Area Running Festival is a series of races started in 2019 in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. It includes a marathon, a 26.2 mile footrace that features a steady elevation drop from start to finish.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 22, 2020 |title=Jim Thorpe running festival benefits Turn To Us |url=https://www.tnonline.com/20201022/jim-thorpe-running-festival-benefits-turn-to-us/ |access-date=June 21, 2021 |website=Times News}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==

===Inline citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite book |last=Bird |first=S. Elizabeth |title=Dressing in feathers: the construction of the Indian in American popular culture |date=May 2, 1996 |publisher=Avalon |isbn=978-0-8133-2667-2 |location=London, UK}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=John |title=Dressing in feathers: the construction of the Indian in American popular culture |date=May 2, 1996 |publisher=Avalon |isbn=978-0-8133-2667-2 |location=London, UK|chapter=“There Is Madness in the Air”: The 1926 Haskell Homecoming and Popular Representations of Sports in Federal Indian Boarding Schools|editor-last=Bird|editor-first=S. Elizabeth}}
* {{Cite book |last=Buford |first=Kate |title=[[Native American Son|Native American Son: the life and sporting legend of Jim Thorpe ]]|date=2012 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |isbn=978-0-8032-4089-6 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |oclc=756837088}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cava |first=Pete |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1e.pdf |title=Baseball in the Olympics |date=Summer 1992 |pages=7–15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809200123/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1e.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2017 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cook |first=William A. |title=Jim Thorpe: a biography |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-0-7864-6355-8 |location=Jefferson, N.C |oclc=692291486}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dodge |first=Robert V. |title=Which chosen people? Manifest destiny meets the Sioux as seen by Frank Fiske, frontier photographer |date=2013 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-1-62894-029-9 |location=New York, N.Y}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dyreson |first=Mark |title=Making the American team: sport, culture, and the Olympic experience |date=1998 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06654-2 |series=Sport and society |location=Urbana, Ill.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Elfers |first=James E. |title=The Tour to End All Tours: the story of major league baseball's 1913-1914 world tour |date=2003 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-6748-0 |location=Lincoln}}
* {{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the modern Olympic movement |date=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-32278-5 |editor-last=Findling |editor-first=John E. |location=Westport, Conn |editor-last2=Pelle |editor-first2=Kimberly D.}}
* {{Cite book |title=The teacher's calendar of famous birthdays |date=2003 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn=978-0-07-141230-8 |editor-last=Gerasimo |editor-first=Luisa |location=New York |editor-last2=Whiteley |editor-first2=Sandra }}
* {{Cite book |last=Hilger |first=Michael |title=Native Americans in the movies: portrayals from silent films to the present |date=2016 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-4422-4002-5 |location=Lanham Boulder New York London}}
* {{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of North American Indians |date=1996 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=978-0-395-66921-1 |editor-last=Hoxie |editor-first=Frederick E. |location=Boston, Mass.}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jeansonne |first1=Glen |title=A time of paradox: America since 1890 |last2=Luhrssen |first2=David |date=2006 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-3376-9 |location=Lanham, Md |oclc=ocm62109927}}
* {{Cite book |last=Landrum |first=Dr. Gene N. |title=Empowerment: the Competitive Edge in Sports, Business & Life |publisher=Brendan Kelly Publishing, Incorporated |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-89-599724-8}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Lincoln |first1=Kenneth |title=The good red road: passages into Native America |last2=Slagle |first2=Al Logan |date=1997 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-7974-2 |location=Lincoln}}
* {{Cite book |title=Great lives from history. Vol. 1 5: American series Sit - Z |date=1987 |publisher=Salem Pr |isbn=978-0-89356-529-9 |editor-last=Magill |editor-first=Frank Northen |volume=1 |location=Pasadena, Cal.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maraniss |first=David |author-link=David Maraniss |title=Path lit by lightning: the life of Jim Thorpe |date=2022 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4767-4841-2 |edition=1st |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Neft |first1=David S. |title=The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present |last2=Cohen |first2=Richard M. |last3=Korch |first3=Rick |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-31-211435-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=O'Hanlon-Lincoln |first=Ceane |title=County chronicles: a vivid collection of Fayette County, Pennsylvania histories |date=2004 |publisher=Mechling Bookbindery |isbn=978-0-9744657-8-4 |location=Chicora, PA}}
* {{Cite book |title=Sports and the Law: Major Legal Cases |date=July 10, 2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-13-568222-4 |editor-last=Quirk |editor-first=Charles E.}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Olympics: Athens to Athens, 1896 - 2004 |date=2004 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=978-0-297-84382-5 |editor-last=Rendell |editor-first=Matt |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Olympics at the Millennium: power, politics, and the games |date=2000 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-2820-5 |editor-last=Schaffer |editor-first=Kay |location=New Brunswick, NJ |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Sidonie}}
* {{Cite book |last=Watterson |first=John Sayle |title=College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy |date=November 14, 2002 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-80-187114-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Robert W. |title=Jim Thorpe, World's Greatest Athlete |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-80-611745-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Randy |title=Sports cinema: 100 movies: the best of Hollywood's athletic heroes, losers, myths, and misfits |date=2006 |publisher=Limelight Ed |isbn=978-0-87910-331-6 |location=Pompton Plains, NJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Zarnowski |author-link=Frank Zarnowski |first=Frank |title=All-Around Men: Heroes of a Forgotten Sport |date=March 31, 2005 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-81-085423-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Zarnowski |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Zarnowski |title=The Pentathlon of the Ancient World |date=2013 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6783-9 |location=Jefferson, NC}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Benjey |first=Tom |title=Doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs |date=2008 |publisher=Tuxedo Press |isbn=978-0-9774486-7-8 |location=Carlisle, PA}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Mallon |first1=Bill |title=The 1912 Olympic Games: results for all competitors in all events, with commentary |last2=Widlund |first2=Ture |date=2002 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-1047-7 |series=Results of the early modern Olympics |location=Jefferson, N.C |chapter=In the Matter of Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newcombe |first=Jack |title=The best of the athletic boys: The white man's impact on Jim Thorpe |date=1975 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-06186-5 |edition=1st |location=Garden City, N.Y}}
* {{Cite book |last=Updyke |first=Rosemary K. |title=Jim Thorpe: The Legend Remembered |date=December 1997 |publisher=Pelican Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-56-554539-7 |location=Gretna, Louisiana}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wallechinsky |first=David |title=The complete book of the Summer Olympics |date=2000 |publisher=Overlook Press |isbn=978-1-58567-033-8 |edition=2000 ed., 1st |location=Woodstock, N.Y}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=jim-thorpe}}
* {{Olympics.com}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{ProFootballHOF|id=213}}
* {{CollegeFootballHOF|id=1264}}
* {{Football stats |nfl=Jim-Thorpe
|espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=T/ThorJi20}}
* {{Baseball stats |mlb= |espn= |br=t/thorpji01 |brm=thorpe001jam}}
* {{IMDb name}}

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