The 1964 Olympic Pairs Medal Mystery

I just love this story, and love that a reporter's investigation enabled a long-overdue change to IOC records. An excellent job by Amy Rosewater.

I'd never heard of Olympic bronze medalists Ron and Vivian Joseph before now. The only name in pairs skating from their era that seemed to stick through my generation was Protopopov (they're legendary). But now after five decades, the American brother-sister pair team (and World silver medalists) finally got the publicity they deserve.

At the 1964 Olympics, American figure skating was still reeling from the horrific plane crash prior to 1961 Worlds, and there weren't any viable candidates for the Olympic podium. Ron and Vivian actually came in fourth, but afterward were quietly awarded the bronze medal (at a hotel in Chicago) when it was discovered the silver medal West German team had illegally signed a professional contract prior to the Olympics that year. But two decades later, the IOC just as quietly reversed the decision after Germany appealed. So Olympic records showed the Josephs were the fourth place finishers. Even though they had bronze medals that they were never asked to return.

Thanks to Amy Rosewater's digging and writing, the IOC FINALLY changed their records to reflect the Josephs' bronze.

And in fact, the official recognition of that bronze medal makes American figure skating the winningest nationality in Olympic figure skating history - with 48 Olympic medals.