Jim Thorpe

:This article refers to the football & baseball player. To see the city in Pennsylvania see Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

An Olympic hero

For the 1912 Summer Olympics, two new multi-event disciplines were on the program, the pentathlon and the decathlon. A pentathlon based on the ancient Greek event had been organized at the 1906 Summer Olympics, but the 1912 edition would consist of the long jump, the javelin throw, 200-meter dash, the discus throw and the 1500-meter run.

Related Topics:
1912 Summer Olympics - 1906 Summer Olympics - Long jump - Javelin throw - Discus throw

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The decathlon was an entirely new event in athletics, although there had been a decathlon competition held during American track meets since the 1880s, which had featured on the program of the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. The events of the new decathlon were slightly different from the U.S. version, however. Both events seemed fit for Thorpe, who was so versatile that he alone had formed Carlisle's team on several track meets. Therefore, Thorpe entered the U.S. Olympic trials for both the pentathlon and the decathlon.

Related Topics:
1880s - 1904 St. Louis Olympics - U.S. Olympic trials

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He easily won the Eastern Trials, winning three events, and was named to the pentathlon team, which also included future IOC president Avery Brundage. There were only a few candidates for the decathlon team, and the trials were cancelled. Thorpe would contest his first—and, as it turned out, only—decathlon in the Olympics.

Related Topics:
IOC - Avery Brundage

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Thorpe's competition schedule for the Olympics was crowded. Along with the decathlon and pentathlon, he also entered the long jump and high jump competitions. The first event scheduled was the pentathlon. Thorpe was the class of the field, winning four events. He only placed third in the javelin, an event he had not contested before 1912. Although the competition was primarily decided on place points, points were also calculated for the marks achieved in the events. Thorpe scored 4041.530 points, 400 points more than second-placed Ferdinand Bie of Norway.

Related Topics:
Ferdinand Bie - Norway

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The same day he won the pentathlon gold, Thorpe qualified for the high-jump final. In that final, he placed fourth, and took seventh place in the long jump. Thorpe's final event was the decathlon, where tough competition from the local favorite, Hugo Wieslander, was expected. But Wieslander was no match for Thorpe either, and finished some 700 points behind Thorpe. Thorpe placed in the top four of all ten events.

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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 were donated by king Gustav V of Sweden for the decathlon and Nicholas II of Russia for the pentathlon. Legend has it that, when awarding Thorpe his prize, Gustav V said "You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King."

Related Topics:
Gustav V of Sweden - Nicholas II of Russia

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Thorpe's successes had not gone unnoticed at home, and he was honored with a ticker-tape parade on Broadway. He later remembered: "I heard people yelling my name, and I couldn't realize how one fellow could have so many friends."

Related Topics:
Ticker-tape parade - Broadway

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Apart from his track and field appearance, Thorpe also played in one of two exhibition baseball matches held at the 1912 Olympics, which featured two teams made up of U.S. track and field athletes. It was not Thorpe's first try at baseball, as would soon become known to the rest of the world.

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