Jim Thorpe

James Francis "Jim" Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was a Sac and Fox athlete of Native American and European ancestry. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football (collegiate and professional), and also played professional baseball and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he was paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals.

Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. He played as part of several all American Indian teams throughout his career, and "barnstormed" as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of American Indians.

From 1920 to 1921, Thorpe was nominally the first president of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which would become the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.

Jim Thorpe (Australian footballer)

Jim Thorpe (21 October 1884 – 25 September 1962) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Notes

External links

Jim Thorpe (golfer)

Jimmy Lee Thorpe (born February 1, 1949) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the Champions Tour.

Thorpe was born in Roxboro, North Carolina, the ninth of the twelve children of a fairway superintendent. He attended Morgan State University before turning pro in 1972. He won three times on the PGA Tour in the mid-1980s. He has surpassed this at senior level by winning over ten times, including one senior major championship (the 2002 Tradition) and making the top ten of the Champions Tour's career money list in 2004.

Thorpe's late success has been clouded by charges filed in federal court in Orlando, Florida, charging him with failure to pay $1.6 million in taxes between the years 2002 and 2004. After his lawyer stated that Thorpe intended to plead innocent to the charges, Thorpe pled guilty in September 2009. On January 22, 2010, Thorpe was sentenced to one year in prison for the crime.

Thorpe was released from prison on January 17, 2011. He was under suspension by the PGA Tour until March 31 and then resumed his career on the Champions Tour.

James Thorpe

James or Jim Thorpe may refer to:

See also