Native American Jim Thorpe at the
1912 Olympics. Somebody stole
his shoes right before he was set to
compete. He simply put on two other
shoes someone had tossed in a trash
can. They were different sizes, so he
had to wear extra socks on one foot
to even them out. He went on to win
two Gold medals
Didn’t actually get the medals until decades after his death because he’s Native American. Also had never even tried some of the sports he won medals in until the actually olympics. Was also a hell of a football player. Incredible life, suggest reading more about him
This guy was kicked out of his football team because they didn't want any "pros" to be in the college level. And he was too good at playing ball that he wasn't able to be in any serious sports till years after he graduated. Like so others can see and learn
The guy that stole them was the dude that was favored to win then found out about jim and tried to sabotage him but failed. Learned that from drunk history while I was high so I'm surprised I remembered.
His wife didn’t care about his Native American heritage and wouldn’t let his biological children give him a proper Indian burial on his native land and she instead sold his body to a town in Pennsylvania (renamed) Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. His kids are still in court trying to get back his remains.
There's a town named after him in Pennsylvania. He never even visited the town, they just bought his body when he died and built a statue of him so they could rename their shitty town. It's weird shit, I live in the next town over.
Jim Thorpe is from Yale, Oklahoma. And on top of what the post mentioned, he hitchhiked his way to the competition. He lived about 5 miles from my home
There is a town dedicated to this man in Pennsylvania (Jim Thorpe, Pa) and it is a hidden gem I’ve been many times in all seasons absolutely captivating 10/10 go check this place out.
I'm not a fan of this kind of content. It's not that it's not interesting, it's just that I didn't come to iFunny to learn about unverified trivia, ya know? Props to the dude for running that, I just don't know if I trust ifunny for this kind of thing to be true.
The legit GOAT. Pro football HOF, world record decathlon after training like 6 months. Pro baseball player, pro basketball player. The mother fuckn GOAT
Louie zamperini was stabbed in the calves by two other runners behind him that had sharpened their cleats specifically to hurt him because he was the best runner in America for his age
Imagine training your entire life to compete at the Olympics and you finally get there, to see a dude wearing a pair of shoes from the trash get two gold medals
Also the 1st runningback ever inducted into the pro football hall of fame (tied with Red Grange) as well and played defensive end on defense. His statue is the 1st thing you see when you enter the pro football hall of fame in Canton.