[Mick]

that was the summer he did well in the olympics. Pentathlon? Decathlon?

EDIT: Just looked it up. Very impressive.

BTW, Thorpe was so dominant in the 1912 decathlon, he would have won the silver medal in the 1948 Olympics with his 1912 statistics. That was the year that Bob Mathias won it as a 17-year old. Thorpe would have beaten Mathias in the 1500m run (by a lot), the long jump (by a few inches), the high jump (by 1/100th of a meter), and the high hurdles by 1/10th of a second. Mathias would have won the 400 by 1/2 second, would have clobbered Thorpe in the discus throw, the shot put by a lot, the pole valut by .25 meter, and they tied in the 100m.

Thorpe's 1,500 meter time of 4:40.1 wouldn't be bested by an Olympic decathlete until 1972. He would have beaten Rafer Johnson's 1960 time by nine seconds.

Last item of interest: 1912 was the Olympics in which George S. Patton competed in the modern pentathlon, finishing fifth (best finish by an American). He finished in the Top 7 in swimming, running, equestrian and fencing. His downfall? Of all things for a military man to do poorly -- shooting. He finished 20th in shooting of 32 competitors.

[Mick]

that was the summer he did well in the olympics. Pentathlon? Decathlon?

EDIT: Just looked it up. Very impressive.

BTW, Thorpe was so dominant in the 1912 decathlon, he would have won the silver medal in the 1948 Olympics with his 1912 statistics. That was the year that Bob Mathias won it as a 17-year old. Thorpe would have beaten Mathias in the 1500m run (by a lot), the long jump (by a few inches), the high jump (by 1/100th of a meter), and the high hurdles by 1/10th of a second. Mathias would have won the 400 by 1/2 second, would have clobbered Thorpe in the discus throw, the shot put by a lot, the pole valut by .25 meter, and they tied in the 100m.

Thorpe's 1,500 meter time of 4:40.1 wouldn't be bested by an Olympic decathlete until 1972. He would have beaten Rafer Johnson's 1960 time by nine seconds.

Last item of interest: 1912 was the Olympics in which George S. Patton competed in the modern pentathlon, finishing fifth (best finish by an American). He finished in the Top 7 in swimming, running, equestrian and fencing. His downfall? Of all things for a military man to do poorly -- shooting. He finished 20th in shooting of 32 competitors.