After decades of advocacy and pressure, the IOC reversed its decision to strip Thorpe of two gold medals from 1912. Today we will discuss about Jim Thorpe: Stolen shoes| Shoe size| Mismatched shoes| Lost shoes
Jim Thorpe: Stolen shoes| Shoe size| Mismatched shoes| Lost shoes
James Francis Thorpe (Sack & Fox (Sock): wa-tho-hook, translated as “Bright Path”; May 22 or 28,1887 – March 28, 1953) an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sack and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States at the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in the classic pentathlon and the other in the decathlon). He also played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball.
| No. 2, 21, 3 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Running back |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | May 22 or 28, 1887 Near Prague, Indian Territory (in modern Oklahoma, United States) |
| Died: | March 28, 1953 (aged 65) Lomita, California, United States |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: | Carlisle (1907–1908, 1911–1912) |
Stolen shoes
So when someone stole her shoes just before she was ready to compete in the Olympics, it probably wasn’t a big deal to Jim. He just put on two more shoes that someone had thrown in the dustbin. However, they were different sizes, so they had to wear extra socks on one leg to take them out.
He won two gold medals, but that only touches the surface of the work he did in those games. He won gold in the (now defunct) pentathlon, winning four of the five events (long jump, discus throw, sprint and wrestling). One event he didn’t win was the spear. He never competed in that event for the Olympics. He ranked third in the world.
He had actually tried to throw the javelin once before at the Olympic Trials. At the time, he didn’t know he could throw it with a running start. He threw it standing still, and finished second.
Shoe size
So when someone stole her shoes just before she was ready to compete in the Olympics, it probably wasn’t a big deal to Jim. He just put on two more shoes that someone had thrown in the dustbin. However, they were different sizes, so they had to wear extra socks on one leg to take them out.
Mismatched shoes
On the final day of competition, Thorpe placed third and fourth in the events he was most inexperienced with, pole vault and javelin. Then came the last event, the 1,500 meter race. The Metric Mile was a leg-burning monster that came after nine other incidents in two days. And he was still in mismatched shoes.
Thorpe set fire to his competitors’ faces. He completed it in 4 minutes 40.1 seconds. Faster than anyone in 1948. Faster than anyone in 1952. Faster than anyone in 1960 – when he beat Rafer Johnson by nine seconds. No Olympic decathlete, in fact, could beat Thorpe’s time until 1972. As The Washington Post’s Nelly Tucker pointed out, even today’s gold medalist in the decathlon, Brian Clay, would beat Thorpe by just a second.
Lost shoes
So when someone stole her shoes just before she was ready to compete in the Olympics, it probably wasn’t a big deal to Jim. He just put on two more shoes that someone had thrown in the dustbin. However, they were different sizes, so they had to wear extra socks on one leg to take them out.
