U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday affirmed what local residents have believed for decades, that legendary Sac and Fox Nation and Potawatomi athlete Jim Thorpe, buried in the county-seat community, was in fact one of the greatest athletes of all time.

The declaration came during an impressive ceremony in Washington, D.C., where Thorpe was posthumously presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, along with 18 other recipients.

Thorpe’s oldest living grandchild, Lynn Hannon, accepted her grandfather’s award.

Biden said the recipients of the nation’s highest civilian honor are “incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow.”

As for Thorpe, who died in 1953 and was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States, Biden called him the “greatest athlete of all time,” according to a published report by Source NM, a New Mexico entity that is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Thorpe’s body was brought to Jim Thorpe following his death as part of a deal in which the municipalities of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk were merged to form the Borough of Jim Thorpe.

An impressive testimony to his achievements exists off Route 903 in the community, including larger than life-size monuments portraying the athlete in action create a lasting memorial to the athlete.

Meanwhile, the president said on Friday that Thorpe and the other Medal of Freedom recipients are “individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” a press release from the White House stated.

Thorpe joins an exclusive list of Native people to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2019, Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne, Hodulgee Muscogee received the medal from then President Barack Obama; Elouise Cobell, Blackfeet; and Billy Frank Jr., Nisqually, are among other Native recipients over the years.

Biden called Thorpe a “one-of-a-kind champion” and said his grandfather used to tell him stories of Thorpe when he was growing up, in nearby Scranton, Lackawanna County.

The news agency quoted the president as saying, “I grew up always hearing about Jim Thorpe, I’m serious, as the greatest athlete, not just the greatest ballplayer; the greatest athlete of all time.”

Biden said grandfather “talked about them all the time.”

Jim Thorpe showcased unparalleled athleticism and he transcended racial barriers through the power of perseverance, sheer will and determination,” Biden added.

Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, Thorpe won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in the classic pentathlon and the other in the decathlon).

He also played football at the collegiate and professional levels, professional baseball and professional basketball.