in the olympic games were held in stockholm .jimthorpe was selected for the united states olympic track team，andwent to sweden .on the ship，while the other athletes limberedup ，thorpe slept in his bunk.in sweden，while other athletestrained，thorpe relaxed in a hammock.he never strained when hedidn't teel it necessary .but thorpe，who never wanted to prac-tice，but never lacked confidence in his ability，was the americanhero of the games.
the two competitions requiring perhaps the most endurance and strength are the pentathlon ，a series of five varied trackevents，and the decathlon ，a series of ten track events，all per-formed by one man.never before in the history of the modernolympics had one man competed in both pentathlon and decathlonat one meeting of the olympic games.thorpe did this and wonboth of these difficult events.the king of sweden，gustav v，presented thorpe with two gold meddals ，and other prizes whichwere valued at 0，000.“sir，” said the king，“you are thegreatest athlete in the world.i would consider it an honor to shakeyour hand.” and william howard taft，the president of the u－nited states，said，“jim thorpe is the highest type of citizen.”
king gustav v was correct，but president taft was not.though jim thorpe had brought great glory to his nation，thoughthousands of people cheered him upon his return to the united statesand attended banquets and a new york parade in his honor，hewas not a citizen.he did not become one until 1916.even then，ittook a special government ruling because he was an indian.
年奥运会在斯德哥尔摩举行。吉姆·索普被选入美国奥林匹克田径代表团，随队去瑞典参加奥运会。在船上，别的运动员都在活动身体，索普却在床上睡大觉。到了瑞典，别的运动员在训练，索普却躺在吊床上休息。不到必要的时候，他从来不肯使劲。但从来不想练习却从未对自己的能力缺乏信心的索普，成了奥运会上的美国英雄。
五项全能比赛，即一系列的五种不同的田径项目；十项全能比赛，即一系列的十种不同的田径项目由一个人完成，可能是最需要耐力和体力的两个比赛项目了。在现代奥运会历史上，从来没有任何人在一届奥运会上既参加五项全能比赛又参加十项全能比赛的。索普这样做了，而且他在这些艰难的项目中都取得了胜利。瑞典国王古斯塔夫五世赠给索普两枚金质奖章和其他价值五万美元的奖品。“先生”，国王说，“你是全世界最伟大的运动员。我能和你握手深感荣幸。”美国总统威廉·霍华德·塔夫脱也说：“吉姆 ·索普是公民的最高典范。”
国王古斯塔夫五世说对了，但塔夫脱总统却没有说对。尽管吉姆·索普为他的国家赢得了很大的荣誉，尽管他回到美国时数千人前去热烈欢迎他，为他举行宴会和在纽约的游行，而他却不是一个美国公民。直到1916年，他才取得公民资格。而那还是经过政府特别裁决才授予他的，因为他是一个印地安人。