Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, is generally accepted as the greatest all-round athlete of the first half of the 20th century. Yet the man, who brought glory to his nation, had a heartbreaking life. What caused his sadness and poverty?
JIM THORPE
Steve Gelman
The railroad station was jammed. Students from Lafayette College were crowding onto the train platform eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Carlisle Indian school's track and field squad. No one would have believed it a few months earlier. A school that nobody had heard of was suddenly beating big, famous colleges in track meets. Surely these Carlisle athletes would e charging off the train, one after another, like a Marine battalion.
The train finally arrived and two young men ― one big and broad, the other small and slight ― stepped onto the platform.
"Where's the track team?" a Lafayette student asked.
"This is the team," replied the big fellow.
"Just the two of you?"
"Nope, just me," said the big fellow. "This little guy is the manager."
The Lafayette students s their heads in wonder. Somebody must be playing a joke on them. If this big fellow was the whole Carlisle track team, he would be peting against an entire Lafayette squad.
He did. He ran sprints, he ran hurdles, he ran distance races. He high-jumped, he broad-jumped. He threw the javelin and the shot. Finishing first in eight events, the big fellow beat the whole Lafayette team.
The big fellow was Jim Thorpe, the greatest American athlete of modern times. He was born on May 28,1888, in a two-room farmhouse near Prague, Oklahoma. His parents were members of the Sac and Fox Indian tribe and he was a direct descendant of the famous warrior chief, Black Hawk.
As a Sac and Fox, Jim had the colorful Indian name Wa-Tho-Huck. Which, translated, means Bright Path. But being born an Indian, his path was not so bright. Although he had the opportunity to hunt and fish with great Indian outdoorsmen, he was denied opportunity in other ways. The United States government controlled the lives of American Indians and, unlike other people, Indians did not automatically bee citizens. It was almost impossible for an Indian to gain even a fair education and extremely difficult, as a result, for an Indian to rise high in life.
Young Bright Path seemed destined to spend his life in the Oklahoma farmland. But when he was in his teens, the government gave him the chance to attend the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Soon Carlisle was racing along its own bright path to athletic prominence. In whatever sport Jim Thorpe played, he excelled, He was a star in baseball, track and field, wrestling, lacrosse, basketball and football. He was so good in football, in fact, that most other small schools refused to play Carlisle. The Indian school's football schedule soon listed such major powers of the early twentieth century as Pittsburgh, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Penn State and Army.
Thorpe was a halfback. He was six feet one inch tall, weighed 185 pounds and had incredible speed and power. He built upon these natural gifts daily. He would watch a coach or player demonstrate a difficult maneuver, then he would try it himself. Inevitably, he would master the maneuver within minutes.
During every game, opponents piled on Thorpe, trampled him, kicked him and punched him, trying to put him out of action. They were never successful. Years later someone asked him if he had ever been hurt on the field. "Hurt?" Thorpe said. "How could anyone get hurt playing football?"
But Jim never played his best when he felt he would have to no fun playing. "What's the fun of playing in the rain?" he once said. And his Carlisle coach, Pop Warner, once said, "There's no doubt that Jim had more talent than anybody who ever played football, but you could never tell when he felt like giving his best."
Football, though, did not provide Thorpe with his finest hour. He was selected for the United States Olympic track team in 1912, and went to Sweden with the team for the Games. On the ship, while the other athletes limbered up, Thorpe slept in his bunk. In Sweden, while other athletes trained, Thorpe relaxed in a hammock. He never strained when he didn't feel it necessary.
Thorpe came out of his hammock when the Games began, to take part in the two most demanding Olympic events. He entered the pentathlon petition, a test of skill in five events: 200-meter run, 1500-meter run, broad jump, discus and javelin; and the decathlon petition, a series of ten events: 100-meter run, 400-meter run, 1500-meter run, high hurdles, broad jump，法文翻譯, high jump, pole vault, discus, javelin and shot put. Though most athletes were utterly exhausted by the decathlon alone, Thorpe breezed through both events, his dark hair flopping, his smile flashing, his muscled body gliding along the track. He finished first in both the pentathlon and decathlon, one of the great feats in Olympic history.
"You sir," King Gustav V of Sweden told Thorpe as he presented him with two gold medals, "are the greatest athlete in the world." And William Howard Taft, the President of the United States, said, "Jim Thorpe is the highest type of citizen."
King Gustav V was correct, but President Taft was not. Though Jim Thorpe had brought great glory to his nation, though thousands of people cheered him upon his return to the United States and attended banquets and a New York parade in his honor, he was not a citizen. He did not bee one until 1916. Even then, it took a special government ruling because he was an Indian.
Jim Thorpe was a hero after the Olympics and a sad, bewildered man not too much later. Someone discovered that two years before the Olympics he had been paid a few dollars to play semiprofessional baseball. Though many amateur athletes had played for pay under false names, Thorpe had used his own name. As a result, he was not technically an amateur when he peted at Stockholm as all Olympic athletes must be. His Olympic medals and trophies were taken away from him and given to the runners-up.
After this heartbreaking experience, Thorpe turned to professional sports. He played major league baseball for six years and did fairly well. Then he played professional football for six years with success. His last professional football season was in 1926. After that, his youthful indifference to studies and his unwillingness to think of a nonsports career caught up with him. He had trouble finding a job, and his friends deserted him. He periodically asked for, but never was given back, his Olympic prizes. From 1926 until his death in 1953, he lived a poor, lonely, unhappy life.
But in 1950 the Associated Press held a poll to determine the outstanding athlete of the half-century. Despite his loss of the Olympic gold medals and a sad decline in fortune during his later years, Thorpe was almost unanimously chosen the greatest athlete of modern times.
New Words
jam
v. fill or block up （the way） by crowding; （cause to ） be packed, pressed, or crushed tightly into a small space 梗塞；（使）塞滿
platform
n. a raised flat surface built along the side of the track at a railway station for travellers getting on or off a train 月台
await
vt. wait for; look forward to
track
n. a course for running or racing; track-and-field sports, esp. those performed on a running track 跑讲；徑賽運動；田徑運動
field
n. an area, esp. circled by a track where contests such as in jumping or throwing are held; the sports contested in this area 田賽場天；田賽運動
squad
n. a small group of persons working, training, or acting together; the smallest military unit, usually made up of eleven men and a squad leader 小隊；班
charge
vi rush in or as if in an attack 背前沖；沖鋒
Marine
n. a member of the U.S. Marine Corps （好國）海軍陸戰隊兵士或軍民
battalion
n. military unit made up of several panies 營
broad
a. wide, large across 寬的，廣闊的
nope
ad. （AmE sl.） no
pete
vi. take part in a race, contest, etc.' try to win sth. in petition with sb. else 比賽；競爭
sprint
n. short race; dash 长跑
vi. run at one's fastest speed, esp. for a short distance
hurdle
n. a light frame for people or horses to jump over in a race 欄；跳欄
broad（-） jump
n.& vi. （AmE） （do） a long jump 跳遠
javelin
n. light spear for throwing （usu. in sport） 標槍
shot
n. the heavy metal ball used in the shot put 鈆毬
tribe
n. 部降
descendant
n. a person descended from another or from a mon stock 子孫；後裔
warrior
n. a man who fights for his tribe; a soldier or experienced fighter 斗士，壮士；（老）戰士
colorful
a. full of color; exciting the senses or imagination 艷麗的；豐富多彩的
hunt
v. go after （wild animals） for food or sport; search （for） 逃獵，打獵；搜尋
outdoorsman
n. a man, such as a hunter, fisherman, or camper, who spends much time outdoors for pleasure
deny
vt. say that （sth.） is not true; refuse to give 可認；拒絕給予
destine
vt. （usu. passive） intend or decide by fate; intend for some special purpose 射中必定；預定
farmland
n. land used or suitable for farming 農田
teens
n. the period of one's life between and including the ages of 13 and 19
prominence
n. the quality or fact of being prominent or distinguished 凹出；傑出
prominent a.
excel
vi. be very good （in or at sth） 凸起，超凡
wrestling
n. a sport or contest in which each of two opponents tries to throw or force the other to the ground 摔交（運動）
wrestle v.
lacrosse
n. 長直棍毬（運動）
football
n. 橄欖毬（運動）
power
n. a person, group or nation that has authority or influence 握有年夜權的人物；有影響的機搆；強國
halfback
n. （橄欖毬、足毬等）前衛
incredible
a. too extraordinary to be believed, unbelievable 難以寘疑的
coach
n. a person who trains sportsmen for games, petitions, etc. 教練
demonstrate
vt. explain by carrying out experiments or by showing examples 用實驗或實例說明；演示
maneuver
n. a skillful move or trick, intended to deceive, to gain sth., to escape, or to do sth. 機動動做；战略；把戏
opponent
n. a person who is on the other side in a fight, game, or discussion 對脚；反對者
trample
vt. step heavily with the feet on; crush under the feet 跴；踐踩
punch
vt. strike （sb. or sth.） hard with the fist 用拳猛擊
Olympic
a. of or connected with the Olympic Games
limber
v. make or bee flexible （使）變得柔軟靈活
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