In a moment 110 years in the making, the International Olympic Committee restored Jim Thorpe’s status as the sole winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden.

“We’ve all waited so long for this and we’re ecstatic,” Thorpe’s grandson John said, “I just hope the war is over now and nothing else pops up. My grandpa doesn’t necessarily rest easy, and I just hope this puts everything to bed.”

The IOC stripped Thorpe of the medals in 1913, saying he had been paid to play minor league baseball before the Olympics took place. The committee’s own bylaws, however, stated grievances had to be filed within 30 days. The challenge to Thorpe’s victories took six months.

In 1982, 29 years after Thorpe’s death, the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family, but his Olympic records were not reinstated, nor was his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events.

Jack Kmetz, president of the Jim Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame, is one of the many locals who have advocated for years for the record books to be corrected.

“It only took 110 years for all these bureaucrats to get it right,” Kmetz said. “They just didn’t do this man any justice whatsoever. They didn’t do it when he won. He wasn’t accepted then because he was a Native American. He was the greatest athlete in the world and he could not get a job in the United States.”

Grace Thorpe, Jim’s daughter, along with his grandson Michael Koehler, also fought tirelessly for him over the years.

“I wish his daughter Grace was alive to see this,” Kmetz added. “She was the one who was keeping her father’s legacy alive. She was the one who actually got the medals in 1982. Michael was also a huge spokesman for the family. I’m sure resting a little easier now knowing what just took place.”

In the 1912 games, Thorpe won the pentathlon, finishing first in the long jump (7.07 meters), first in the 200-meter dash (22.9 seconds), first in the discus (35.57 meters), and first in the 1,500-meter race (4:44.8), and third with a 46.71-meter throw in the javelin.

The next day, Thorpe finished fourth in the high jump (1.87 meters), and four days later, he finished seventh in the long jump (6.89 meters).

His best effort, however, came in the decathlon. Thorpe finished first in the shot put (12.89 meters), the high jump (1.87 meters), the 110-meter hurdles (15.6 seconds) and the 1,500-meter race (4:40.1).

State Rep. Doyle Heffley sponsored a house resolution in 2020 advocating for the reinstatement of Thorpe as the sole gold medal winner of the two 1912 events.

“I got to meet John Thorpe over the years, and he was very passionate about getting this injustice corrected for his grandfather,” Heffley said. “They came to the Capitol in Harrisburg for a day and talked with a lot of people. It was a bipartisan resolution and I’m glad the IOC has finally made the right decision.”