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N0KFQ > TODAY 07.07.15 16:15l 70 Lines 3376 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 60789_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 7
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150707/1415Z 60789@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1912
Jim Thorpe begins Olympic triathlon
On this day in 1912, Jim Thorpe wins the pentathlon at the fifth
modern Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. At the time, Thorpe, a
Native American who attended Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian
School, was only beginning to establish his reputation as the
greatest all-around athlete in the world.
Born May 28, 1887, in Prague, Oklahoma, on a Sac-and-Fox Indian
reservation, James Francis Thorpe was given the name Wa-Ho-Thuck
by his mother, meaning "bright path." In 1908, Thorpe
matriculated at the Carlisle Indian School, in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, and joined the school's track team. Two years
later, Thorpe tried out for the Carlisle football team, coached
by the legendary Pop Warner. At one practice, Warner challenged
the inexperienced Thorpe to run the ball against the entire
Carlisle team. Thorpe dodged, weaved and out-ran all 30 of the
Carlisle players to score a touchdown. Warner was incredulous,
and asked Thorpe to do it again. Thorpe did, and then joined the
team as a running back. He was named an All-American in 1911 and
1912.
In the spring of 1912, Thorpe returned his focus to track to
train for that summer's Olympics. On July 7, competing against
the best athletes in the world in the Olympic pentathlon, Thorpe
placed first in the broad jump, 200-meter sprint, discuss throw
and the 1,500 meters, and third in the javelin throw to win the
gold easily. Later in the day Thorpe failed to medal in the high
jump and long jump competitions, placing fourth and seventh,
respectively. His second medal of the games would come in the
decathlon, which he won nearly as easily as he had won the
pentathlon, breaking the world record in the event. At the
closing ceremonies, where the medals were presented, Thorpe was
introduced to King Gustaf V of Sweden. According to legend, the
king said, while shaking Thorpe's hand, "Sir, you are the
greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe replied "Thanks,
king."
Thorpe returned to a ticker-tape parade in New York City. In
1913, though, he was stripped of his Olympic medals because he
had played minor league baseball professionally in 1909 and 1910.
While he was not the only amateur athlete of his era to play for
money to pay his bills, he naively did so using his real name and
was easily caught. Also in 1913, Thorpe was recruited by New York
Giants manager John McGraw to play baseball, which he did on and
off with middling success at the plate in six of the next eight
years. In 1920, Thorpe used his fame to help launch the American
Professional Football Association (APFA), which eventually
morphed into the NFL. Thorpe served as the APFA's first president
and played for the league professionally from 1921 to 1926 and
again in 1928. During his playing career, it was said that Thorpe
could punt a ball with full force, and then sprint down the field
and catch it himself.
In 1950, the Associated Press named Thorpe the greatest athlete
of the first half of the 20th century. Before his death from a
heart attack in 1953, Thorpe was known to entertain fans at NFL
games by punting balls between the uprights in the end zone from
the 50-yard line. The two gold medals stripped from Thorpe in
1913 were returned to him in 1982, 30 years after his death.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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