Jim Thorpe, the World's Greatest Athlete

Jim Thorpe, The World's Greatest Athlete is a biography of the Native American athlete who became a sports icon in the first half of the 20th century. Beginning with Thorpe's boyhood in Indian Territory it chronicles his rise to athletic stardom at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, winning two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics, his fall from grace in the eyes of the amateur athletic establishment, and his rebound in professional baseball and football.

For over thirty years Joseph Bruchac has been creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies and music that reflect his Abenaki Indian heritage and Native American traditions.

Jim Thorpe, The World’s Greatest Athlete is a biography of the Native American athlete who became a sports icon in the first half of the 20th century. This is a film about a man who used his amazing physical prowess as a way to affirm his American Indian identity in the face of unrelenting efforts to eradicate Native American culture. Jim Thorpe, The World’s Greatest Athlete is the first documentary film to tell the story of Thorpe’s life outside of his well-known athletic victories.

He was regarded by many—from Sports Writers and Broadcasters of America to the King of Sweden—as one of the most prominent athletes of all-time. And Jim Thorpe remains today a sports legend worldwide.

 
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