Hugo Wieslander, the Swedish athlete elevated to first place in the decathlon, had a family that had been engaged with the Thorpe story for decades.

The Swedish Olympic Committee’s involvement in the campaign to restore Thorpe was not incidental — it reflected a long-standing position that Wieslander himself had held.

The family confirmed, in the context of the 2022 negotiations, that Wieslander had always considered himself to be at best a silver medalist, never a gold medalist, and had recognized Thorpe as the true champion.

This alignment — the families of both elevated athletes endorsing Thorpe’s reinstatement as sole champion — gave the IOC the specific cover it needed to act without a dispute about the rights of the previously recognized athletes.

On July 14, 2022, the IOC voted to reinstate Jim Thorpe as the sole winner of both the pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.