Washington (AFP) – US figure skating great Dick Button, a two-time Olympic champion whose technical prowess revolutionized the sport, has died aged 95, US Figure Skating announced. Button’s death coincided with the Washington DC plane crash in which 14 people from the figure skating community, including two former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, and young stars from the Skating Club of Boston, died. Button had skated for the Boston club and remained close to it throughout his life. The trophy room at the club is named in his honour.
“Richard ‘Dick’ Button, whose pioneering style and award-winning television commentary revolutionized the sport of figure skating, died January 30 in North Salem, New York. He was 95 years old,” US Figure Skating said in a statement. Born in Englewood, New Jersey, on July 18, 1929, Button won back-to-back Olympic titles at the 1948 St. Moritz and 1952 Oslo Winter Games, as well as five consecutive world titles, three North American titles, and seven national titles. He also won gold at the 1948 European Championships, a time when the competition was open to North Americans.
But beyond his exceptional record, Button is also credited with taking the sport to another level with his athleticism, excelling in compulsory figures and in free programs, which he peppered with his technical prowess. At the first post-World War II Winter Games in St. Moritz, the 18-year-old Button became the first man to successfully complete the double axel, on his way to becoming the first American Olympic figure skating champion. He remains the youngest man to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal.
– ‘An innovator’ –
At Oslo, four years later, on his way to his second gold medal, he completed the first triple jump in competitive history, the loop. He also invented the ‘Button camel’, now known as the flying camel spin. He had to wait until the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 to see another skater, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, retain his Olympic title. Button’s only career defeat was at the 1947 World Championships, where he took silver behind Switzerland’s Hans Gerschwiler.
After retiring in 1952, he studied at Harvard Law School and also toured extensively with Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice shows. He went on to work as a lawyer, actor, organiser of professional skating competitions, commentator, and television producer, and was known as “the voice of skating” in the United States between 1960 and 2010. Button’s last Winter Olympic broadcasting assignment was at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“On this terrible, sad day for figure skating with the loss of young upcoming talent and their family members and coaches in the plane crash, I am further heartbroken with the loss of figure skating legend, my friend, Dick Button,” said US 1988 Olympic gold medallist Brian Boitano on social media. “He was an innovator, the master of triple jumps and a two-time Olympic champion. He competed outdoors, was a lawyer, a commentator, and even helped establish professional competitions. Dick mentored me throughout my career, offering invaluable advice, and became a friend. His impact on the sport of figure skating and on me personally is unparalleled and will never be forgotten.”
Button is survived by a son and daughter from his marriage to former skater and coach Slavka Kohout, which ended in divorce. Kohout died in March 2024.
© 2024 AFP
