Uncovering the Legend: Top 12 Fun and Fascinating Facts About Jim Thorpe You Never Knew

1. Morbid Auction of Athlete's Remains

Like a high-stakes episode of Storage Wars, Jim Thorpe's third wife, Patsy, once shopped her husband's remains around various American towns, making them compete in a morbid auction for the right to bury the legendary athlete: In a bizarre tale, Thorpe's corpse ended up in a town he'd never even set foot in, aptly renamed "Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania." After a lengthy legal tussle, Thorpe's sons won a federal ruling in 2013 to bring their dad back to Oklahoma as a Native American cultural artifact, but the case remains on appeal, leaving his final resting place as undecided as a "choose your own adventure" book.
Source => cntraveler.com

2. Olympic Scandal Twist

In a plot twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan envious, Jim Thorpe went from Olympic superstar to wrongly accused semi-pro baseball scandal-maker: It wasn't until 1983 that the International Olympic Committee finally recognized his athletic accomplishments posthumously, although his Olympic medals were never physically returned, Thorpe's name and legacy were officially reinstated as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Source => americanindianmagazine.org

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3. Swiss Army Knife of Sports

If Jim Thorpe were a Swiss Army knife, he'd have a tool for every sport imaginable, and then some: This multitalented Native American athlete won gold medals in both the decathlon and pentathlon events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, played football for the Canton Bulldogs and later in the NFL, barnstormed with an all-American Indian basketball team, and kickstarted his athletic journey at the Sac and Fox Indian Agency school, where his twin brother Charlie played a vital role, right up until his untimely death from pneumonia at age nine.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Forrest Gump's Athletic Predecessor

Before Forrest Gump was running across America and playing football, there was a real-life athletic marvel who made history on his two (probably) gold-plated feet: Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win Olympic gold, nabbing top honors in both the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. He also dominated college football by leading his team to a national championship, playing four different positions, and ultimately becoming a founding father of professional football as we know it today.
Source => okmag.com

5. Gold Medals in Mismatched Shoes

If the shoe fits, or doesn't, wear it anyway: Jim Thorpe, a Native American Olympian, stunningly won two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics - in the decathlon and pentathlon - despite having his shoes stolen and having to rely on a mismatched, trash-rescued pair, with one padded with extra socks to balance the sizes!
Source => medium.com

6. Lucky Number 11 Gridiron Win

When life hands you lemons, kick a field goal: Jim Thorpe, sporting a swollen ankle and bandaged leg, defied the odds and romped his way to victory on the magical date of 11/11/11, with the number 11 being his lucky charm. Channeling his inner gridiron warrior, he scored a touchdown and booted three field goals, leading Carlisle to an 18-15 upset over the reigning national champions and top-ranked Harvard.
Source => thecrimson.com

7. The Pre-Usain Bolt Athlete

Before Usain Bolt sprinted into our hearts and shattered world records, there was a mighty sportsman juggling gold medals like they were oranges at a county fair: Say hello to Jim Thorpe, who won first place in the high jump at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia in only his second year competing! And did we mention he bagged six gold medals in a single day against Lafayette College in 1909? Let that sink in.
Source => paheritage.wpengine.com

8. Versatile Sports Hopper

If there were an Olympics for professional sport hopping, Jim Thorpe would've won that gold medal too: A dazzlingly versatile athlete, Thorpe clinched two Olympic golds in the 1912 Stockholm games for decathlon and pentathlon, only to see them stripped for an amateurism violation. Unfazed, he went on to have an illustrious football career, securing three championships for the Canton Bulldogs, dabbling in the NFL, and still finding time to play professional baseball – though, thankfully, not for six different teams in one offseason, as some tales would have you believe.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Impressing Royalty

In a world where an Iron Man conquers tech and a Superman lifts planets, there was once an extraordinary athlete who left royalty speechless: Jim Thorpe, dubbed "the greatest athlete in the world" by King Gustav V of Sweden in 1912, became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the US and set an unbroken record by winning gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon at a single Olympic Games.
Source => shinola.com

10. Hollywood's Tarzan Near-Miss

Before "lights, camera, action" was his calling, old Hollywood sank its teeth into Jim Thorpe, turning this Tarzan hopeful into a broken-shouldered, unbilled football player with sixty reels of Native American portrayals in his locker: In the 1931 film Touchdown, he appeared as an unbilled football player, breaking his shoulder during filming, which led to missing out on the 1932 Olympics and the role of Tarzan in the MGM film adaptation - where he was replaced by swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

11. Ball-Juggling Sports God

If Thor had a hammer, Jim had a ball – and several, at that: To give Loki a real run for his mischievous money, Jim Thorpe was an exceptional sportsperson who clinched two Olympic gold medals in pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics and excelled in college football, earning first-team All-American titles in 1911 and 1912, as well as playing professional football, baseball, and basketball, landing him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

12. Iron Man of Sports

Before Superman had a chance at sporting glory, there was Jim Thorpe, the Iron Man of sports, juggling balls and batons like a circus act on steroids: A supremely gifted multi-sport athlete, Thorpe not only left his mark in football, but also clinched Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon events, took leaps in professional baseball and basketball, and became the very first Native American to bring home Olympic gold for the United States.
Source => profootballhof.com