Ronald Joseph was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 figure skater.

Skating career

Ronald and his younger sister Vivian Joseph

Vivian Joseph

Vivian Joseph is a female American figure skater.-Skating career:Vivian and her older brother Ronald Joseph began skating together as children, attended Highland Park High School, and competed for the Broadmoor Skating Club of Colorado.The two siblings entered their first regional competition, the...

 began skating together as children, attended Highland Park High School

Highland Park High School (Highland Park, Illinois)

Highland Park High School, or HPHS, is a public four-year high school located in Highland Park, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 113, which also includes Deerfield High School.Prior to the 1949–50 school year, the...

,http://www.d113.lake.k12.il.us/hphs/prostudies/athletics/hof/2003/joseph_rv.pdf and competed for the Broadmoor Skating Club

Broadmoor Skating Club

The Broadmoor Skating Club is a figure skating club based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that has long been a major training center for the sport of figure skating. Founded in 1939, it was originally known as the Pikes Peak Skating Club, and was based in the Broadmoor World Arena on the grounds of...

 of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

.

He was an excellent all-around athlete. Joseph attended Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 on a track scholarship, and placed 3rd in the long jump at the 1964 Big Ten Championships.

In 1957 they competed in the Midwest Skating Championship, and finished in 2nd place.

A plane crash in 1961 claimed the lives of the entire U.S. World Figure Skating Team en route to the world championships in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, and the Josephs were thrust into the spotlight.

They became 1961 U.S. Junior National Champions, and finished in the top three in the U.S. Championships from 1962-65 (3rd in 1962, 2nd in 1963, and 1964, and first in 1965). They also won the North American Championships in 1965.

They did well at three World Championships, finishing 3rd in 1963, 4th in 1964, and 2nd in 1965.

Olympics; Bronze Medal awarded, and then taken away

They competed in the pairs figure skating event at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games.

They finished in 4th place. But in 1966 the silver medal

Silver medal

A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

-winning team of Hans-Jürgen Bäumler

Hans-Jürgen Bäumler

Hans-Jürgen Bäumler is a German pair skater, actor, singer and television host.- Biography :...

 and Marika Kilius

Marika Kilius

Marika Kilius is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champion in pair skating....

 of Germany were stripped of their medals, after they were alleged to have signed a professional contract prior to the 1964 Winter Olympics

1964 Winter Olympics

The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...

. The Josephs were then moved up to 3rd place, and awarded bronze medals.

In 1987, however, the Germans were officially reinstated by the IOC, and the original results were restored. The Josephs, who had held the bronze medal for over 20 years, were moved back to 4th place. The USOC does not recognize them as medalists.

Results

(Pairs with Vivian)

Event	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...					4th
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...				8th	4th	2nd
North American Championships North American Figure Skating Championships The North American Figure Skating Championships were a former elite figure skating competition for skaters from the United States and Canada. It was a biennial competition held between 1923 and 1971, with locations alternating between the two countries.Although the event was classified as an...				3rd		1st
U.S. Championships United States Figure Skating Championships The United States Figure Skating Championships is figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals".Skaters...	2nd J.	1st J.	3rd	2nd	2nd	1st

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