Ronald Joseph

Ronald Joseph
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	October 9, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Former partner	Vivian Joseph
Former coach	Peter Dunfield
Former skating club	Chicago Figure Skating Club
Retired	1965
Medal record Competitor for United States Figure skating: Pairs Olympic Games 1964 Innsbruck Pairs World Championships 1965 Colorado Springs Pairs North American Championships 1965 Rochester Pairs 1963 Vancouver Pairs

Ronald Joseph (born October 9, 1944) is an American former pair skater who competed with his sister, Vivian Joseph. They are the 1964 Olympic bronze medalists, 1965 World silver medalists, and 1965 North American champions.

Personal life

Ronald Joseph was born on October 9, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois and is the elder brother of Vivian Joseph.^[1] He is Jewish and works as a hand surgeon in Florida.^[2]

Career

The Josephs began competing together by the late 1950s and became the U.S. national junior champions in 1961. They won the senior bronze medal in 1962 and silver the following year. They were assigned to the 1963 North American Championships, where they took the bronze medal, and to the 1963 World Championships, where they placed eighth.

The Josephs were selected to represent the United States at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and initially finished fourth. A few years later, the silver medalists, Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler of Germany, were disqualified after they were accused of signing a pro contract before the Olympics. The original bronze medalists, Debbi Wilkes / Guy Revell of Canada, were elevated to silver and the Joseph siblings to bronze. When the German pair was reinstated in 1987, the IOC decided the Germans and Canadians were both silver medalists and the Americans remained bronze medalists.^[3] The IOC officially updated the results in November 2014.^[4][5]

The Josephs won the national senior title in 1965. They then took gold at the 1965 North American Championships and silver at the 1965 World Championships before retiring from competition. They were coached by Peter Dunfield.^[3]

Results

(Pairs with Vivian Joseph)

International
Event	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
Winter Olympics					3rd
World Championships				8th	4th	2nd
North American Championships				3rd		1st
National
U.S. Championships	2nd J.	1st J.	3rd	2nd	2nd	1st
J. = Junior level

See also

• List of select Jewish figure skaters

References

1. "Ron Joseph". Sports Reference.
2. Hersh, Philip (February 12, 2011). "Anniversary recalls disaster of 1961 plane crash that wiped out U.S. figure skating team". Chicago Tribune.
3. Rosewater, Amy (December 13, 2013). "1964 Olympic Skating Pair Only Now Discovering Their Place". The New York Times.
4. Rosewater, Amy (November 25, 2014). "I.O.C. Corrects Record on 1964 American Skating Pair". The New York Times.
5. Rosewater, Amy (November 25, 2014). "Fifty years later, Joseph siblings find redemption". IceNetwork.

• Jews in Sports bio

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