The Greatest Athlete In Olympic History Was From Oklahoma

The Winter Olympics are on right now. Snow, speed, flags, all of it. Every four years we act surprised that humans can move like that.

And while the world is watching skiers and skaters chase medals, it feels like a good time to talk about Oklahoma’s other favorite son.

Will Rogers holds a home in every true Oklahoman's heart, but so does the greatest athlete America ever produced.

Jim Thorpe

If you line up Olympic résumés by medal count alone, Thorpe does not sit at the top. He is not swimming in gold like modern Olympians who specialize in one discipline and train year-round with million-dollar support systems.

He was built different. Oklahoma tough, the best in the world.

In the 1912 Summer Olympic Games, Thorpe dominated the competition and won the gold in the decathlon. Ten events. Speed, strength, endurance, technique. You cannot fake your way through it. You cannot specialize your way around it. You have to be good at everything, and Thorpe was.

He also won gold in the pentathlon.

Even more amazing, he did it all in shoes he pulled out of the garbage when his went missing. I know that sounds like some made-up legendary folklore, but it really happened. He still dominated the field.

Even more wild, as a citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, he wasn't even recognized as a US citizen at the time, but he competed and won anyway.

Oklahoma claims him proudly, and rightfully so. His life details a complicated time in American and Oklahoma history. Layers of athletic brilliance, Native identity, federal policy, and eventual public pride and redemption.

There are more decorated Olympians on paper. There are athletes with more gold, more endorsements, more highlight reels in high definition... But if you are measuring pure athleticism, especially in the era of amateurs, there is no doubt his legacy is still the greatest in Olympic history.

While the Winter Games unfold, it is worth remembering that more than a century ago, an Oklahoma kid stepped onto the world stage and proved he could do all of it in spite of being told he couldn't.