The Life of Jim Thorpe-World's Greatest Athlete
*The event has already taken place on this date: Sat, 09/07/2019
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Based on the book "Jim Thorpe: World Greatest Athlete" by Robert Wheeler, this presentation by the author, who is founder and president of the Jim Thorpe Foundation, will also include rare photographs and voice recordings.
Learn about Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox tribal member) whose athletic prowess is legendary, excelling in baseball, football, lacrosse and track and field. His legend was secured at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, when he won gold in both the decathlon and pentathlon, and where King Gustav V called him the “world’s greatest athlete.”
Leading the Carlisle Indian School in numerous events, Thorpe was launched toward a pro football career, highlighted in 1920 when he helped found the American Professional Football Association—which would evolve into the NFL. This would come to haunt him, when, in 1913, he was stripped of his gold medals after it was discovered he had violated amateur rules by being paid to play minor league baseball in 1909 and 1910.
Sports Illustrated credits Wheeler with primary responsibility for the restoration of Thorpe’s Olympic gold medals in 1982 by the the International Olympic Committee. Replicas were presented to Thorpe's family.
The book will be available for purchase.
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