james francis thorpe (may 28, 1888 – march 28, 1953) was an american athlete in track, football, and baseball. thorpe was part native american and was from oklahoma. he played football, track, and six other sports at carlisle indian school in pennsylvania. while at carlisle, thorpe's team was one of the best in the country, and beat an army team that had dwight eisenhower. thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon (five track and field events in one day) and decathlon (ten events in two days) at the 1912 summer olympics. after the decathlon, the king of sweden called him the greatest athlete alive. his medals were taken away because he had played professional baseball, but were returned in 1982, long after his death.