The 1913 disqualification was the application of a real rule that genuinely prohibited what Thorpe had done.

The rule was applied outside its own time limit, which was a procedural violation that should have prevented the disqualification.

The rule was also applied in an environment where the same conduct by other athletes was protected by a convention that Thorpe did not know about and had not been taught.

Whether specific individuals in the AAU or at Carlisle chose not to warn Thorpe because he was Native, or because they were focused on other things, or because they assumed the time limit would protect him, is not clearly established in the documentary record.

What is clearly established is that the disqualification was procedurally improper.