Thorpe, Jim (1887-1953), was one of the greatest all-around athletes in history. He became an outstanding college and professional football player and won fame as an Olympic track and field champion. Thorpe also played major league baseball.
In the 1912 Olympic Games, Thorpe became the first athlete to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon (see Track and field (The decathlon, heptathlon, and pentathlon)). But about a month later, Olympic officials took away his medals. Prior to the games, Thorpe had played baseball for a small salary. The Amateur Athletic Union ruled that Thorpe was therefore a professional athlete and ineligible to compete in the Olympic Games. In 1982, the International Olympic Committee restored Thorpe’s gold medals and added his name to the list of 1912 Olympic champions. In 2022, the committee formally recognized Thorpe as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon.
James Francis Thorpe, who was of mixed European and Native American ancestry, including Sac and Fox, and Potawatomi, was born on May 22, 1887, near Prague, Oklahoma. Thorpe began his athletic career at the Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Indian Industrial School. He led the small school to national fame in football. He was an outstanding runner, place-kicker, and tackler and won all-America honors in 1911 and 1912.
From 1913 to 1919, Thorpe played baseball as an outfielder on three major league teams. Thorpe began his professional football career in 1915 and played on six teams during the next 14 years. Thorpe helped establish professional football as a popular sport. In 1920, Thorpe became the first president of the American Professional Football Association, now known as the National Football League. He was named one of the first members of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 (see Pro Football Hall of Fame). Thorpe died on March 28, 1953. 
