Jim's Gold Medals example essay topic

On the morning of May 28, 1888, one of the most versatile, and arguably the greatest of athletes was born in a one-room cabin made of cottonwood and hickory, on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation located in Prague, Oklahoma. His name was Wa-tho-huck, which means 'Bright Path', in the Native American language spoken by the Sac and Fox Tribe. His father was Hiram P. Thorpe an Irish trapper, and his mother was No-ten-o-quad, and Indian member of the Thunder Clan of Chief Black Hawk, better known as Charlotte Thorpe. It was a customary tradition for Native Americans to name their children after something seen just before giving birth or even just after giving birth. Since the first thing Wa-tho-huck's mother saw, shortly after giving birth at 6: 30 in the morning, was the Sun rising over a walkway leading to the cabin, hence the name 'Bright Path. ' Because Hiram Thorpe wasn't a full-blooded Indian, Wa-tho-huck needed to have a name given to him at the time he was christened.

They agreed on the name James Frances Thorpe, or as many came to know him as, Jim Thorpe. Jim wasn't the first child of the family, in fact he had an older brother named George and a twin brother named Charlie. George was nearly seven years older than Jim, so the only person that Jim had to play with was Charlie. Although Jim and Charlie looked very much dissimilar, they soon began to show similar interests. They took after their father in the fact that they both enjoyed such activities as hunting, trapping, and fishing; and as the years went on, they became inseparable. Jim also had a younger sister named Mary, and a younger brother named Eddie.

Hiram Thorpe was undoubtedly the most gifted athlete on the Sac and Fox Reservation. Nearly every weekend, competitions such as, wrestling, swimming, high-jumping, and broad-jumping, were held, and every weekend. Families from all over the Reservation and area would come to watch these events, and nearly every weekend they saw Hiram win. Perhaps this talent and love of athletic competition was inherited by Jim, or perhaps by watching his father compete, Jim became so compelled to make his father proud, that he developed a love for competition. Either way, Jim's passion to compete helped him in the years to come.

At the age of six and a half Hiram enrolled Jim and Charlie at the Sac and Fox Indian Agency School, near Tecumseh, Oklahoma. Jim wasn't a very good student, but Charlie was. Jim often daydreamed about slipping out of the classroom and stalking a deer through the forest or spearing bluegills beside an imaginary fishing pond. Jim seemingly could not bear school, but what kept his hopes up was 'prairie baseball. ' It was the same as regular baseball, except the games were played in a field that was the equivalent to a sand-lot of today. He also played basketball, and was interested in track, but there was no track team, so Jim had to run against friends in unofficial meets.

As Jim once said, 'Our lives were lived in the open, winter and summer. We were never in the house when we could be out of it, and we played hard. I emphasize this because the boys who would grow up to be strong men, must lay the foundation in a vigorous youth. In May of 1896, Hiram decided to take Jim and Charlie hunting.

They made plans for the trip and both boys grew very excited every day. However on the day of the trip, Charlie fell violently ill and was unable to go on the trip. Still enthused about the trip, Jim and Hiram set off and dedicated the trip to Charlie. That day on his first hunting trip Jim saw a deer. He aimed his rifle at the deer and as Hiram looked on, Jim shot the deer almost directly in the heart and dropped it where it stood. Jim was excited and couldn't wait to get back and show Charlie what had happened, so a few days later they packed up and headed home.

The day they returned home they received bad news; Charlie had been sent to the infirmary in Chilocco, Oklahoma, nearly 20 miles away. Jim and his father immediately set off to see Charlie, but by the time they reached the infirmary, Charlie had passed away at the age of eight. The cause of his death: pneumonia. With Charlie now gone, Jim had nobody to play with except his older brother George. This proved to be useful as this is how Jim grew stronger and became used to bigger competition in every game he played. Jim was also forced to go back to school without his twin brother and soon there was a noticeable change in him.

He began to slack in his work and his grades slipped. He also became a very quiet individual and began to keep to himself. His love for baseball even began to disintegrate. Finally in 1897 he left school and returned home where he was met by his mother. She encouraged him to go back but he resisted. When Hiram found out, he drove Jim all the way back to school, and dropped him off.

When Hiram left, Jim left too, but by the back door, and he headed back home, taking a shortcut which was only 18 miles, as opposed to the 23 miles his father had to travel by road. He beat his father home and his father was shocked to see him there. Jim then explained to him how it was hard for him to attend school with Charlie gone. Hiram began to understand and he made a decision that would keep Jim in school. In 1898 Jim was sent to Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas.

This would provide Jim with a new environment and make it hard for him to leave and walk home. At Haskell, Jim was taught discipline and respect, and he began to take great pride in his outward appearance. It was here that he first fell in love with the game of football, and it wasn't long before he had sewn together a football out of cloth stuffed with rags, and was playing with all of his friends. He also took interest in track and began jumping fences in much the same way that hurdlers jump. This was indeed where Jim began to fall in love with many new sports. Just before the completion of his second year, Jim was confronted with the news that his father had been shot while hunting and was lying in a hospital dying.

Jim wasted no time and ran to the train station. There he stowed away on a train and was later discovered. He was then told that he had boarded a Northbound train when he was trying to board a Southbound train. Jim was thrown off the train and he walked 270 miles home. He arrived two weeks later and was greeted by his dad. His father told him that he had lost weight but that he was expected to be fine.

Jim was relieved and happy to be home. That is until tragedy struck again, this time claiming his mother, Charlotte, who had never been sick a day in her life. The cause of death; a severe case of blood poisoning Jim once again fell into a depression, but this time Hiram couldn't pull him out of it. With his mother gone, Jim was constantly getting in trouble by his temperamental father and in 1901 he ran way from home and ended up in the Texas panhandle. At the time he was only 13 years old and stood only 4' 11' and weighed only 102 pounds, but he worked there for a year, fixing fences and taming wild horses. He missed his father very much, but refused to return home until he had proven himself to be a man.

He saved up enough money to buy a strong team of horses and headed back to Oklahoma. He was met by his father who was undoubtedly very happy to see him. Hiram had regretted the day he had lost his temper and his prayer for Jim's safe return home was answered. Although Jim was happy to be back home again, his responsibilities grew, because George was gone. He had headed out west to find work.

Mary and Eddie were still there but they were only 8 and 3 years old, so they were of very little assistance. Although he had no football or track to participate in, he was still happy that his father didn't send him back to Haskell. Instead Jim attended a public school in Garden Grove, only three miles from home. It was there that he became fascinated with a new subject- electricity. He also resumed playing football and running track which made him very happy. Then on May 12, 1904 a recruiter visited school from Carlisle University, a school for Indians.

Right away Jim knew he wanted to attend Carlisle. He had heard about the Carlisle Indian's football team coached by 'Pop' Warner. That day, the recruiter was able to sign Jim, who had been actively sought by Warner. Warner had noticed his athletic prowess and how he had excelled in such sports as basketball, football, baseball, and track. He knew that Jim could outplay anybody he competed against whether he played right or left-handed.

He had been building a dynasty and knew Jim would be a valuable asset. Jim entered Carlisle on June 1, 1904 at the age of 16. He stood only 5'5' at the time and weighed only 115 pounds. He was too small to play on the varsity football squad, but he made the tailor-shop team at the guard position.

The tailor-shop team was more of an intramural squad or a junior varsity team. Although it seemed second-best, it was good practice for Jim. He had hoped to study electricity, but no such course was offered at Carlisle, so he was forced to take a course in tailoring. He began to study hard and became more interested in school. That is, until tragedy struck again that year, when his father died during a hunting trip, after getting septicemia, a disease caused by microorganisms that leave toxic materials in the blood. Jim had an immense amount of trouble dealing with his death and he went from being a very quiet person, to a very depressed and irritable person.

It was because of this that the school sent him to live with another family in Oklahoma, to help him get through it. It didn't help very much at all, so he was sent to work for James L. Cadwallader doing various gardening chores, and soon he was recommended for a higher paying farm job. Then in 1907, at the age of 19 Jim returned to Carlisle, standing 5'9' and weighing 144 pounds. One day Jim was walking around when he saw a group of the varsity players trying to high-jump. He watched as they continued to raise the bar and then at 5'9' they couldn't jump over it. Jim asked to try it, even though he was dressed in overalls and had no shoes on.

The players sarcastically let him try, thinking he would never clear it, but much to their surprise, he cleared it with ease. One of the players that was present informed 'Pop' Warner of the feat and the next day he 'Pop' called Jim into his office, and told him that he had just broken a school record. Then to his surprise, Jim told him that he didn't think that it was that hard and that if he had the proper attire, he could jump higher. 'Pop' then encouraged him to join the track team and so he did. He went on to break every record at Carlisle that season, all of which were set by Albert Exendine. The next year, Jim tried out for the football team, much to the dismay of coach Warner.

Warner wanted him as his track star and didn't want him to get hurt playing football. However, when Jim wouldn't give up on the thought, Warner decided to try to make him want to quit. He gave Jim the ball at practice one day and told him he had to elude eleven other players without the help of anybody blocking. Jim did so and ran for a touchdown after breaking a few tackles and outrunning everybody else.

This earned him a spot on the varsity team. However, things didn't go so great for Jim the first year. The team went 10-1, with a loss to Princeton, and racked up record numbers, but Jim played very little. The next year was more successful for him as he began to take his track talent to new height.

He also became a superstar on the football team, due to the departure of many of the starting backs from the previous season. The team went on to go 10-2-1 (ten wins, two losses, and one tie. ), and he had a great deal to do with it as he scored 11 touchdowns and kicked 3 field goals. Jim's reputation grew and he was awarded third team honors on Walter Camp's All-American team at fullback. In the 1909 track season, Jim had one of his greatest day's against an opposing team, winning 6 gold medals and one bronze medal in seven events.

Jim also won other medals that season including seven gold medals and 2 silver medals. But Jim gave a repeat performance against Syracuse, winning 5 gold medals in the high jump, broad jump, 50-yard hurdles, 220-yard hurdles, and 16-pound hammer throw. The summer after track season ended, Jim and a few other ballplayers left Carlisle and went to play baseball in North Carolina. Joining him were Raymond Hitchcock, Joseph Loud bear, Mary Red thunder, John Bastian, and Stella Bear. When they arrived, they went their separate ways, looking for a team that would let them play. Jim signed on Rocky Mount as a third baseman, for only fifteen dollars a week.

After a while Jim also got his chance to become a pitcher. He turned out to be the best pitcher on the team with a 9-10 record, an average of. 474. When he didn't pitch, he played first base, even though he was listed as a third baseman. This was a great season for Jim, considering that it was his first season playing organized baseball. When the season ended, so did his way of making money, so he was forced to go back home to Oklahoma, borrowing rides when he could, and walking when he couldn't.

He stayed at home for the rest of the summer, and was provided with food from people on the reservation. When Spring came around, Jim ventured back to Eastern Carolina to play baseball again and when he got there he signed on with the Fayetteville team. This time he went 10-10 with a batting average of. 236 in 29 games. He could run fast and he quickly became a crowd favorite. Halfway through the season, however, the manager gathered the team and announced that he would be unable to pay them that week.

It turned out that he wouldn't be able to pay them for any week after that, and the team went bankrupt. This discouraged Jim, and once more he returned home, but this did not last. He quickly became bored with life there and began to drift throughout Oklahoma. Jim continued to drift around until one day in early November of 1911, when he was offered a chance to return to Carlisle. He accepted and quickly got back into football. The two years he had taken off had not slowed him down a bit and he went back to being a prime time player.

He played the next two seasons on the Carlisle football team, racking up record numbers and in rushing yards, and leading his team to a 10-1 record in 1911 and a 12-1-1 record in 1912. In both seasons he was named First Team All -American to round out his football career at Carlisle. After taking the 1911 track season off, Jim returned to the team in preparation for the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden. Jim wanted to represent his tribe at the Games, so he could bring honor to his name and in dedication of his father. That season Jim won medals at four major meets. His first meet was at the Boston Athletic Association where he won a gold medal in the 100-yard dash, a silver medal in the 45-yard hurdles, and bronze medals in the high jump, and shot put.

At his next meet in Pittsburgh, he won gold medals in four events which included, 12-pound shot put, 60-yard hurdles, high jumping, and 60-yard dash. Proceeding the meet at Pittsburgh, he went to the Middle Atlantic Association (Amateur Athletic Union) meet and won gold medals in the 12 and 16-pound shot put, and the 75-yard dash, and a silver medal in 3 standing jumps. In his final meet at Carnegie, won gold medals in shot putting, high jumping, and 220-yard hurdles, and silver medals in broad jumping and 120-yard hurdles. He also won a bronze medal in the 100-yard dash, for a total of 20 medals in the season. This was Jim's last season at Carlisle and he made it count. In June of 1912, Jim tried out for the Olympics at Harvard Stadium.

He earned spots in both the decathlon and the pentathlon. These two rigorous events were of the hardest events featured in the Olympic Games and there was much competition for the spots. Jim however prevailed and boarded a ship for Stockholm, Sweden later that month. On the ship, Jim was forced to go through an intense training regiment every day in order to ensure success in Stockholm. Every day for the two weeks aboard the ship, Jim trained with others and was usually in the lead in every drill. This continued until the ship docked in Antwerp, Belgium, so that the athletes could finish getting ready on the ground for the three proceeding days.

After that, all training and working out stopped until the day of the events. King Gustav, Prince Gustav Adolph (both of Sweden), and Grand Duke Dmitri, of Russia, were the honored guests of the Olympics, and were to present each athlete with his or her medals. July 7 marked the day for the start of the Pentathlon, which featured five events; running broad jump, discus, 200-meter dash, wooden javelin throw, and 1,500-meter race. Jim won four of the five events, yielding only the discus toss, and claiming the gold medal for the Pentathlon, thus shattering the standard that the Scandinavians were superior in this event. On July 13, Jim took part in the Decathlon, which featured ten events as opposed to the five events in the Pentathlon, and took part over three days. The first day was rainy, much to the dismay of Jim, who hated competing in horrible whether.

Jim lost the first two events, the 100-meter dash, and the running broad jump, but he beat all opponents in the shot put, by at least two and a half feet. This closed out the first day in the leader's position. The next day was perfect, and Jim started it out with a win in the running high jump competition, after clearing 6'1.6'. He lost the next event; the 400-meter run, but he made up for it by setting a world record in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.6 seconds. Jim again closed out the day as the leader. The next day however showed hi inexperience as he finished second in the discus, and third in both the pole vault, and javelin throw.

Jim overcame the poor showings, however, and finished first again in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 40.1 seconds. This finish gave Jim the gold medal in the Decathlon, to go along with his gold medal in the Pentathlon. Jim was presented with his gold medal in the Pentathlon first and King Gustav placed the ceremonial wreath over his neck. Later he was called up to receive his gold medal for the Decathlon. King Gustav once again placed a wreath around his neck and presented him with the medal and a silver chalice, lined with gold, and precious jewels, in the shape of a Viking ship. It was two feet in length and eighteen inches in height and weighed over thirty pounds.

The King then shook Jim's hand and said to Jim, something that would live in Jim's mind and the rest of the world's also. He said simply,'s ir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!' Jim replied quietly, 'Thanks, King. ' It was the proudest moment in Jim's life Jim was perhaps one of the best known athletes in the U.S. and possibly in the world for that matter. Jim had been written about everywhere, and many people adored his athletic prowess.

He was an 'undisputed champion' in the Olympics and nobody ever questioned his integrity. That is until the Olympic Committee uncovered facts about Jim in 1913 that would forever change his athletic career. They had found out about his days of playing baseball in Carolina, in which he received pay for playing. As the Olympic Committee saw it, the Olympiad is held every four years for athletes who qualify as amateurs.

Amateurs are a step below professional for they do not receive payment for the athletic tasks that they perform. Jim therefore could not be considered as an amateur. In what became a very controversial issue, Jim was stripped of his gold medals in 1913 and they were rewarded to the runners-up in each event. Jim was extremely embarrassed and shocked.

He wondered how this could happen to him, but in the end, he admitted that it was his mistake and that he had played for Rocky Mount and Fayetteville and he had no moral choice, but to go along with the committee's decision. Although Jim saw this as a disgrace, many people still felt that he was still the greatest athlete in the world. It also brought up the question, ' If a participant isn't a professional at the time, then should he / she be allowed to be in the Olympics?' In Jim's case however, the answer was, 'No!'s shortly after being stripped of his medals, Jim was presented with a chance to once again, make a name for himself. He was offered jobs to travel around the world and show off his strength in front of audiences, making up to a thousand dollars a week.

He was also offered the chance to become a professional boxer, but he opted for a job that would pay him six thousand dollars a year. This sport was professional baseball. Not the same baseball that he had played before however, this was the major leagues. He was offered contracts from six teams and he chose to sign with the New York Giants.

He signed a three year contract on February 1 of that year and became a member of the most talented baseball organization of its time. The contract was the most paid to an untried prospect at that time. The Giants had the most amount of talented players, and Jim was drawn to this because he knew it would be hard to break the starting lineup, and he liked challenges. The task became a big challenge, too, as he didn't get along with his manager well at all, and he had very little practice at baseball. It was too much for him and people said he was just no good. He was sent to Milwaukee, in the minors to play in a farm league.

It was there that he married his college sweetheart Iva Miller. She would soon prove to be his inspiration and comfort over the decade. After their honeymoon in Great Britain, Egypt, Italy, France, and Japan, Jim was called back up to the majors. In his first game back for spring training, he hit 3 home-runs against Texas.

This success did not last long and soon he was sitting the bench. In 1915 however, Jim was offered a spot on the Canton Bulldogs a professional football team, which he accepted immediately. He signed a contract that would pay him $250 a game. He quickly drew in thousands of fans and made professional football increasingly popular around the country.

He led his team to a tie for the Championship, after kicking two field-goals that tied the game. Baseball still wasn't going well, and he played sparingly in the 1916 season, during which time he had a son named James, Jr. Football continued to be successful however, and in the 1916 season, he helped his team to another championship, with the team only allowing seven points the entire year. In 1917, Jim was traded to the Cincinnati Baseball organization, where again he played sparingly.

The 1917 football season didn't go so well either, as America entered World War I. Attendance fell, but the team still did well, losing only once all season. At the same time his son was stricken with infantile paralysis and soon there after, he died at the age of three. Jim was never the same again and he started showing up late for baseball practices and not trying as hard. He was dealt to Boston in 1919, but didn't really play much there either.

His real sport was football and in 1919 he won another championship with Canton. In 1920, Jim became part of the American Professional Football League (later renamed the National Football League) as the Canton Bulldogs along with ten other teams, formed this new league. Other teams included, Akron, Decatur, Cleveland, Dayton, Hammond, Massillon, Muncie, Rochester, Rock Island, and Chicago. Jim played another year with Canton after finishing the 1920 season. His 1921 season was financially difficult, as he made very little money, and after that he went to play for the Toledo Maroons. In 1922, he played on the Portland Baseball Organization, and after that season, his baseball career became shaky as he moved from town to town and team to team.

His last team was Akron in 1928. Jim's career of baseball ended at the age of forty years old. During this time though, Jim still had great success in football. He went on to create an all-Indian team in 1923, called the O orang Indians. Indians from around the country came to try out for the team, but most of the one's who made it were from Carlisle.

The team lasted only one year, as many people said Jim, at the age of thirty-five, was too lazy to run the team. This was off, as Jim was never resting at any time of the year, but still the team fell under that same year. He then went on to play for Rock Island, in 1924, then the New York Giants and Rock Island, once again, in 1925. The next four seasons were very unsuccessful for him as he was nearing the age of forty, He played for four different teams in those seasons, including St. Petersburg, Canton, Portsmouth, and Chicago, before hanging up his cleats and retiring after the 1929 season, at the age of forty-one. During his professional career, Jim and his wife had three more daughters; Gail Charlotte, and Grace. Deep down inside Jim still longed for a son, but with three children to support, Iva didn't want anymore children.

Eventually, however, Jim and Iva divorced and two years later Jim married a Gali on, Ohio woman by the name of Freed a Kirkpatrick. They went on to have four sons; Carl, William, Richard, and John. Bad times hit though, as the Great Depression began and Jim found himself struggling to provide for his family. Jim sold the motion-picture rights to his life for fifteen hundred dollars, as a means of income. He also refereed marathon dances, and became a painter for a Los Angeles oil firm. After those jobs ended he became an actor for Universal Studios, and made three movies.

One movie was about Chief Black Crow, and the other two were films about football and baseball. Again those jobs ended and so he worked as a laborer on the excavation of the Los Angeles County Hospital. When the 1932 Olympics came to Los Angeles, Jim could not afford a ticket. This story quickly hit the media and letters from around the country were sent to him offering him a seat at the Olympics. The biggest invitation was from Vice President Charles Curtis, who was also an Indian American...

The crowd of 105,000 gave Jim a standing ovation when he took his seat. That was one of the only exciting parts of his life during that time, and after it, he went back to being a low-profile actor. He remained low-profile, until the movie industry began to rise after the Depression. He starred in She, The Green Light, and You Can't Take it With You. In 1941, Jim was sent a letter informing him that his wife of fifteen years, was suing him for divorce. He was heartbroken, and didn't understand why she wanted a divorce.

The reason she gave was that he wasn't spending enough time at home and he was constantly leaving for two to three weeks at a time. Jim was charged with neglect and had to pay a settlement of an unknown amount. In February of 1943, Jim suffered his first heart attack, two months before his fifty-fifth birthday. He received thousands of letters, like when the 1932 Olympics came around, and many of them were in reference to starting a petition to the Olympic Committee about reinstating Jim's gold medals.

The Committee, however, paid no attention to it, and took no action. Jim recovered slowly, and in November of that same year, he resigned. In June of 1945, Jim once again married, this time to a woman from Kentucky, by the name of Patricia Gladys Askew. Shortly after, late in World War II, he was accepted for duty in the Merchant Marines. He was placed aboard the U.S. S Southwest Victory, which was sent to India carrying ammunition for the Allied troops stationed at the China, Burma, India Theater. After returning home, later that year, Jim settled down, and began attending charity banquets in his honor.

In 1950 he was voted the Greatest Athlete And Football Player in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. In 1951 Warner Brothers released, Jim Thorpe-All American, a movie about the great athlete's life. This was truly a great tribute to his dedication on and off the field. In November of 1951, Jim noticed an infection on his lower lip.

He went to a hospital in Philadelphia and had it checked out, and found out that it was cancer. Luckily, the doctor's were able to remove it, without any aftereffects. Ten months later however, he suffered his second heart attack, but he shocked the doctors when after only seventy-two hours, he sat up and walked out of the hospital under his own power. Jim however was unable to conquer his third heart attack which occurred on March 28, 1953. This heart attack was massive and it occurred while Jim was laying in bed.

Not even the doctors could save him. The unconquerable athlete had been conquered for the first time, and all that was left of him was the legend that he had striven so hard to achieve. On the front of Jim's granite memorial is engraved:'s IR, YOU ARE THE GREATEST ATHLETE IN THE WORLD!' KING GUSTAV, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 1888 JIM THORPE 1953.