On February 15, 1961, the entire United States figure skating team and several family members, coaches, and officials were killed when Sabena Flight 548 crashed in Brussels, Belgium, en route to the World Championships in Prague. The accident caused the cancellation of the 1961 World Championships and necessitated the building of a new American skating program. Although American figure skaters were still too young in 1964 (most were aged 15 or lower), they still managed to win two medals.[2][3]
At the 1964 Olympics, Kilius/Bäumler, Wilkes/Revell, and Joseph/Joseph placed second, third, and fourth respectively. In 1966, Kilius/Bäumler's results were invalidated after it was discovered that they had signed professional contracts before the Olympics. At the time, only amateurs were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The silver medals were transferred to Wilkes/Revell and the bronze medals to Joseph/Joseph. The Germans were re-awarded the silvers in 1987,[4] after appealing that other pairs had signed similar contracts but had not been exposed and disqualified. The placements of Wilkes/Revell and Joseph/Joseph remained unclear for many years. In December 2013, the IOC clarified that the Canadian pair had not been stripped of their silver after the Germans regained their medals.[5] In November 2014, the IOC stated that both the German and Canadian pairs are the silver medalists and the Americans are the bronze medalists.[6][7]
^Ford, Bonnie D. (2011). "Still Crystal Clear". ESPN. Retrieved 19 February 2014. The plane crash that killed the 1961 U.S. world championship figure skating team decimated families and the sport, but alongside grief came renewal.
Manfred Schnelldorfer (EUA)
Sjoukje Dijkstra
Liudmila Belousova / Oleg Protopopov
