Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America January 8, 2000

ESPN is conducting an online vote for "Athlete of the Century." The voting is open until January 30th and the results will be announced during the Superbowl on January 30th. Currently, Michael Jordan is leading, with Jim Thorpe right behind him. Vote now and let's make this outstanding Native American the "Athlete of the Century!" Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) Thorpe was the winner of the 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon. With 8,412 points, he broke the decathlon world record by an incredible 998 points. Thorpe was later forced to return the medals because he had played semi-professional baseball in 1909. Not only was Thorpe voted the Greatest Athlete of the first half of the century by the Associated Press in 1950, he also was named the greatest football player, beating out Red Grange. Besides starring in football and track at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1903-12), Thorpe excelled in a number of other sports, including basketball, lacrosse, baseball, golf, swimming, rowing, hockey and boxing. He played major league baseball as an outfielder for six years (1913-19) and dominated professional football during its early years (1917-29). In 1984 the International Olympic Committee returned the gold medals to Thorpe's family. To Cast your vote, visit this website: ENDOFCENTURY - Wide World of Sports athlete of the century http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/century/wwos.html

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