On July 7, 1912, Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes in history, won the pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics. Thorpe, a Native American from the Sac and Fox Nation, dominated the event, which consisted of five disciplines: long jump, javelin throw, 200-meter dash, discus throw, and 1,500-meter run.
Thorpe's performance was nothing short of spectacular. He won four of the five events and placed third in the javelin throw. His overall score of 7 points was far ahead of the silver medalist, Ferdinand Bie of Norway, who scored 11 points.
What made Thorpe's achievement even more remarkable was that he had competed in the decathlon just two days earlier, winning gold in that event as well. The decathlon, a grueling ten-event competition, is considered one of the most demanding in athletics.
Thorpe's Olympic victories made him an international celebrity. King Gustaf V of Sweden, who presented Thorpe with his gold medals, famously said to him, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."
Sadly, Thorpe was stripped of his Olympic titles in 1913 when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball prior to the Olympics, violating the strict amateurism rules of the time. However, his legacy as one of the world's greatest all-around athletes endures. In 1982, the International Olympic Committee posthumously reinstated Thorpe's Olympic titles, recognizing his incredible achievements and the injustice of his disqualification.
