Jim Thorpe reinstated as sole winner for 1912 Olympic golds

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Jim Thorpe has been reinstated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm. The move comes nearly 110 years after he was stripped of those gold medals for violations of strict amateurism rules of the time.

The International Olympic Committee announced the change 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 was a Native American. He had his medals stripped months after the Olympics when it was discovered he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers.