The American athlete and Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle in 1907 when he walked past the track and, still in street clothes, beat all the school’s high jumpers with an impromptu 5-ft 9-in jump.
His earliest recorded track and field results come from 1907. He also competed in football, baseball, lacrosse, and ballroom dancing, winning the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.
The athlete was awarded third-team All-American honors in 1908 and named a first-team All-American in 1911 and 1912. Football was – and remained – Thorpe’s favorite sport. He did not compete in track and field in 1910 or 1911, although this turned out to be the sport in which he gained his greatest fame.
His successes were followed in the United States. On the Olympic team’s return, Thorpe was the star attraction in a ticker tape parade on Broadway. He remembered later, “I heard people yelling my name, and I couldn’t realize how one fellow could have so many friends.”
Meet Hiram Thorpe, Jim Thorpe’s father
Hiram Thorpe who is identified to be the celebrity father of Jim Thorpe was born in 1852. He was the son of Hiram Grace Thorpe Sr. his father and No-Ten-O-Quah (Sac and Fox) Thorpe his mother.
He was the brother to Frances Thorpe Waple, the only sibling for that matter. He is of mixed-race ancestry and had an Irish father and a Sac and Fox Indian mother, and holds an American nationality.
Hiram fell in love with his wife Charlotte Vieux in his 30s, whiles his wife was also in her 20s and both couples got married in 1880.
The two were very happy together and they were blessed with four children all boys and a twin Jim Thorpe and his brother Charlie Thorpe, and the other two George Thorpe and Edward Thorpe.
Hiram lived for 52 years and died on April 24, 1904, in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma map. He died from gangrene poisoning after being wounded in a hunting accident.
Source: nflfaqs.com
