Profile of the Day: Jim Thorpe

Today we remember athlete Jim Thorpe, who was born on this day in 1888. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, Thorpe was not only an Olympic champion, but also played professional football, baseball, and basketball.

Image: Jim Thorpe / Library of Congress

Thorpe was born in Indian Territory near the town of Prague, Oklahoma to Hiram Thorpe and Charlotte Vieux. Thorpe had a mix of European and Native American ancestry and was raised in the Sac and Fox nation in Oklahoma.

A gifted athlete, Thorpe competed in the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden, where he won gold medals in both the decathlon and pentathlon. Shortly after the games, an investigation revealed that Thorpe had played semiprofessional baseball in 1909 and 1910, which would have disqualified him from the games. As a result, the International Olympic Committee stripped him of his titles and medals. Thirty years after his death, the IOC restored his Olympic medals.

Thorpe would go on to play professional baseball, football, and basketball and be remembered as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.

He died on March 28, 1953.

View Jim Thorpe’s Geni Profile