Jim Thorpe Reinstated as Sole Winner for 1912 Olympic Gold Medals

This is an undated photo of Jim Thorpe in a baseball uniform. Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon — nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals. (AP Photo, File)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Jim Thorpe has been restored as the single winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm, over 110 years after those gold medals were removed for breaches of the time's strict amateurism regulations.

The International Olympic Committee announced the change Friday on the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and later being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world.”

Thorpe, a Native American, returned to a ticker-tape parade in New York, but it was uncovered months later that he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers, violating Olympic amateurism standards. He was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal.

Thorpe to some remains the greatest all-around athlete ever. He was voted as the Associated Press (AP)’ Athlete of the Half Century in a poll in 1950.

The IOC awarded duplicate gold medals to Thorpe's family in 1982, 29 years after his death, but his Olympic records were not reinstated, nor was his standing as the lone gold medallist in the two events.

A Bright Path Strong petition urged Thorpe to be declared the outright champion of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912. In the official record book, he was named a co-champion by the IOC.

“We welcome the fact that thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned.”

Thorpe’s Native American name, Wa-Tho-Huk, means “Bright Path.” The organisation with the help of IOC member Anita DeFrantz contacted the Swedish Olympic Committee and the family of Hugo Wieslander, who had been elevated to decathlon gold medalist in 1913.

“They confirmed that Wieslander himself had never accepted the Olympic gold medal allocated to him, and had always thought that Jim Thorpe was the sole legitimate Olympic gold medalist,” the IOC said, adding that the Swedish Olympic Committee agreed.

“The same declaration was received from the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, whose athlete, Ferdinand Bie, was named as the gold medalist when Thorpe was stripped of the pentathlon title,” the IOC said.

Bie will be listed as the silver medalist in the pentathlon, and Wieslander with silver in the decathlon.

World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, has also agreed to amend its records, the IOC said.

Bright Path Strong commended the IOC for “setting the record straight” about the Sac and Fox and Potawatomi athletes.

"We are so grateful this nearly 110-year-old injustice has finally been corrected, and there is no confusion about the most remarkable athlete in history,” said Nedra Darling, the organization co-founder and citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

As the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States, Thorpe “has inspired our people for generations,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians.

Thorpe quadrupled the score of his nearest rival in the pentathlon and had 688 points more than the second-place finisher in the decathlon in Stockholm.

During the closing ceremony, King Gustav V told Thorpe: “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”

By Rebecca Santana

Edited by Jeronnie Richardson