They were the children of a prominent Czech family from Prague whose father was a prosperous cork manufacturer. Otto, born 1940, and Maria, born, 1943, were too young to remember Nazi occupation of their native land during World War II, but when Communists, after the war, nationalized their father’s business, they certainly recall travelling with trepidation and forged passports through Europe until they landed as immigrants in Canada, 1951. Although they had earlier begun pairs skating in their homeland, it was not until they settled in Oakville, Ontario, that Otto and Maria Jelinek seriously took up pairs figure skating. Success first came, 1955, when Otto, age 15, and Maria, age 12, won the Canadian Junior Pairs Championship. By 1958, they had placed third at the World Championships, Paris, and second, 1960, at the World Championships, Vancouver. The climax of their career as skating partners came,1962, when the brother/sister team won the World Championship in Prague, their native city. Retiring from amateur competition, 1962, the couple skated professionally for six years with the Ice Capades. Otto Jelinek went on and ran successfully for political office, first, 1972, as a Progressive Conservative representing his home riding of Halton, then over the next decade, serving in several cabinet posts during the Mulroney years. Maria, in turn, works for a travel agency in Oakville. In this view, the Jelineks skate to the World Championship, 1962. [Photo, courtesy Maria Jelinek]