James Thorpe goes by the name Jim Thorpe. He went to the Olympics in the summer of 1912. The Olympics were held in Stockholm’s Sweden. The pentathlon and the decathlon were added to the Olympics for the first time.
Since the Olympics were held in Sweden the events were a little different. He was an one man team for almost all the track meets he went to. Here are some of his records: he could run the 100 yard dash in 10 seconds, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds. He could long jump 23 feet 6 in and high-jump 6 feet 5 in. He reached 11 feet pole vaulting. He could throw the shot put 47 feet, and discus 163 …show more content…
Besides all the races he was in for the pentathlon, he also competed in long and high jump. This was the first competition was the pentathlon. He won four of the five events he ran in and placed third in the javelin. This was the first year that he competed in javelin, so to walk away with third place he did very well. Like most pentathlons, you get points based on the place you get in a race, but they also gave you points for individual event too. He got a gold medal for being one of the best athletes in the Olympics. After he got his gold medal he found out that he qualified for the high jump final. He got fourth place and got seventh place in the long jump. Something fascinating is that someone tried to wreck his race by taking his shoes right before he had to run. Despite as he was he found some in the lost and found bin and won his medals wearing them. In the picture they took of him with his medals you can see that he is wearing two different shoes while wearing a couple pairs of socks because the shoes were too big.
Thorpe's successes followed him home by having a ticker-tape parade on Broadway in New York City. Not only did he go to the Olympics in track and field but he also went in baseball. He played one of the two baseball games during the same Olympics’ in 1912. This team had two of the same people he competed with at the track and field
Since the Olympics were held in Sweden the events were a little different. He was an one man team for almost all the track meets he went to. Here are some of his records: he could run the 100 yard dash in 10 seconds, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds. He could long jump 23 feet 6 in and high-jump 6 feet 5 in. He reached 11 feet pole vaulting. He could throw the shot put 47 feet, and discus 163 …show more content…
Besides all the races he was in for the pentathlon, he also competed in long and high jump. This was the first competition was the pentathlon. He won four of the five events he ran in and placed third in the javelin. This was the first year that he competed in javelin, so to walk away with third place he did very well. Like most pentathlons, you get points based on the place you get in a race, but they also gave you points for individual event too. He got a gold medal for being one of the best athletes in the Olympics. After he got his gold medal he found out that he qualified for the high jump final. He got fourth place and got seventh place in the long jump. Something fascinating is that someone tried to wreck his race by taking his shoes right before he had to run. Despite as he was he found some in the lost and found bin and won his medals wearing them. In the picture they took of him with his medals you can see that he is wearing two different shoes while wearing a couple pairs of socks because the shoes were too big.
Thorpe's successes followed him home by having a ticker-tape parade on Broadway in New York City. Not only did he go to the Olympics in track and field but he also went in baseball. He played one of the two baseball games during the same Olympics’ in 1912. This team had two of the same people he competed with at the track and field