(GONE) Jim Thorpe - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 30.761 W 097° 30.179
14S E 635752 N 3930930
Standing in front of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, and museum named after him, this sculpture of Jim Thorpe honors "The World's Greatest Athlete".
Waymark Code: WMJTG9
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/29/2013
Views: 3
UPDATE December 2019: It has been reported that this statue as well as the museum have been moved to Bricktown Ballpark.
In front of the Jim Thorpe Association/Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame stands an heroic-sized bronze sculpture of Jim Thorpe. Born in May 1887 near Prague, Oklahoma, he was a Native American of the Sac & Fox tribe. His Native name was Wa-Tho-Huck – “Bright Path”. At age 15, he was schooled at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, and known as a star football player and all-around athlete.
He won both the Pentathlon and Decathlon events at the 1912 Olympics and was known as the World’s Greatest Athlete. In 1913, after learning that he had once played semi-professional baseball, his medals and records were stripped from him. They were restored in 1983 and presented to the State of Oklahoma. Thorpe played major league baseball in 1913-1919, professional football 1915-1919 and was the first president of the National Football League.
Jim Thorpe passed away on March 28, 1953 of a heart attack and is buried in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, named in his honor.
This heroic-sized bronze sculpture is nine feet tall, and weighs 1400 pounds including its base. It was erected here in May 2009. Its origin is unique as it was fashioned and enlarged from a smaller version which is presented as the Jim Thorpe Award. Artists and technicians at MTM Recognition, a division of Midwest Trophy, formed a resin replica and created this larger-than-life sculpture. It stands high on a circular bronze base, mounted on a semi-circular brick wall in front of the museum. Thorpe is shown in a football uniform, with a football in the crook of his left arm, and his helmet held in his right hand. The museum is located on Lincoln Blvd. north of the Oklahoma State Capital.
[Information obtained from the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians in Anadarko, OK - and the historical museum in Prague, OK]
URL of the statue: Not listed
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