This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
U.S. FIGURE SKATING


U.S. Olympic Committee President Emeritus Kenneth Wilson awards the Josephs their belated Olympic bronze medals during a small ceremony in their home- town of Chicago in 1966.


husband to their local newspaper, Te Arizona Republic.


“Tey said they would do the article, but


they didn’t have any record about Ron winning a bronze medal,” said Krista, who has a back- ground in advertising and public relations. “We literally went down to Te Arizona Republic and brought the medal into the office. Te reporter said, ‘Oh, that’s weird.’ But that was pretty much it.”


Te Republic wrote: “Later, through a dis- qualification of the silver medalists, Ron and Vivian Joseph moved up one position and were awarded a bronze medal.” About four years later, while attending a


skating event at Te Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Krista noticed Ron was listed in the pro- gram as placing fourth at the 1964 Olympics. “At one point, I did google it and saw [Viv-


sionalism,” the IOC minutes state. “Mr. Brund- age considered that the dignity of the Olympic Games is gravely impaired when they are reduced to the role of a steppingstone on the way to a professional career.” Ron, who at the time was finishing college


and preparing for medical school at Northwest- ern University in Chicago, learned this news from his mother, Lore Joseph. “I was in my dorm room getting up and


getting ready for class, and my mother called me,” Ron said. “She said, ‘You guys are getting an Olympic medal!’ Tat’s how I found out. I was in disbelief, in awe and shock, but my basic thought was, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ I just went to class after that.” Te Josephs received their medals in a small


presentation during the U.S. Figure Skating Ex- ecutive Board meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago. Several area skating officials attended the event. Tere was virtually no media coverage. When asked if he recalled being interviewed by a reporter, Ron laughed. “No,” he said. “I distinctly remember not


being interviewed.” Wilkes and Revell, now the silver medalists,


received their Olympic medals during a presen- tation at the 1967 Canadian Championships. Te Olympic records reflected the updated


results: 1. Soviet Union. 2. Canada. 3. United States.


With medals in hand, it appeared the saga


had ended. But it hadn’t.


COLD WAR COMMUNICATIONS Te word “rehabilitated” has many mean-


ings, including “restore to normality.” But from 1987 forward, nothing about the 1964 pairs medals was normal. During the 1987 IOC Executive Board


meeting in Istanbul — 23 years after the Inns- bruck Games — the IOC deemed the West Germans “rehabilitated.” Te general thinking, according to Dick Pound, a Canadian member of the IOC executive board at the time, was that other athletes had similar contracts and the West


Germans felt they should have their medals re- turned. With no American representation at this meeting, it seemed no one in the United States knew of the “rehabilitation.” Likewise, when West German Olympic Committee President Willi Daume awarded Kilius and Baumler new duplicate silver medals seven months later on a German television show, word did not reach North America.


American and Canadian skating officials


said they were never informed about the addi- tional medals.


As for the official IOC records, they reverted


to 1. Soviet Union, 2. West Germany, 3. Canada. With no notification, the Josephs — whose


bronze medals hung in their homes — were now listed fourth.


Canadian Revell, who died in 1981, guard-


ed his silver medal so closely that he was buried with it, according to his longtime partner Wilkes. In these days before widespread public use


of the Internet, confusion ensued. Respected Olympic historians listed con-


flicting reports about the 1964 Games. David Wallechinsky, author of Te Complete Book of the Winter Olympics, did not note the “rehabil- itation” until 1992. His 2014 edition lists the Josephs in fourth place. In contrast, historian Bill Mallon’s sports-reference.com (the U.S. Olympic Committee’s official reference guide), lists the Jo- sephs in third place. U.S. Figure Skating was alerted to the “re-


habilitation” in 2001 and promptly included an asterisk in its records to explain the unusual turn of events. But the matter was not officially resolved by


the International Olympic Committee until No- vember 2014. Between the “rehabilitation” and the resolu- tion came plenty of confusion, stilted conversa- tion and, finally, the age of the Internet.


CONFUSION, DOUBT AND ACCUSATIONS During the run-up to the 1992 Albertville


Games, Krista Joseph pitched a story about her


ian and Ron] were in fourth place,” Krista said. “On another Google search, Te Arizona Repub- lic story would come up, too,” Krista said. “Ulti- mately, I thought, ‘Well, he has the medal.’” More confusion ensued, to the point of a stranger challenging Vivian’s credibility. In 2006, Vivian was introduced as an


Olympic bronze medalist at a cocktail party in Chicago. About a week later, another guest, who had searched her skating history online, contact- ed Vivian to dispute her claim. “I wasn’t very happy,” Vivian said in a flat


tone. “I mean, how embarrassing. Te guy looked it up and said I didn’t win a bronze medal. It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard of.” Ron, meanwhile, began keeping the IOC doc-


umentation of his medal with him to prove his ac- complishment. As an orthopedic surgeon, he often was called into court as a medical expert and feared someone would question his Olympic record. Wilkes, for her part, was keenly aware of


the online discrepancy and rarely discussed her Olympic experience publicly. Anytime she was recognized for her Olympic achievement, the Canadian champion was labeled an “Olympic medalist” rather than a silver or bronze medalist.


A COACH FIGHTS ON Peter Dunfield, the Josephs’ coach, spent


years unsuccessfully lobbying the IOC, the In- ternational Skating Union and the U.S. Olympic Committee to straighten out the record. Sonya Klopfer Dunfield, his wife of 50 years, still has boxes of letters Peter wrote to the IOC and other organizations, including U.S. Figure Skating. Each time U.S. Figure Skating delved into


the issue, personnel hit a dead end. To put it sim- ply: More facts were needed. By luck or providence, the Sochi Games


were approaching, marking the 50th anniversary of the Innsbruck Games. With much media at- tention, this reporter focused on American med- al winners from those Olympics and found the pairs discrepancy. One by one, the facts came together from


across the globe. Tose close to the situation were finally forthcoming, helping set the record straight. At first, Vivian and Ron were not too keen


SKATING 31


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68