Dick Button, a legendary figure skater who won two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships, died Thursday at 95. He was renowned not only for his athletic prowess but also for his innovative jumps, pioneering broadcasting contributions, and tireless promotion of the sport.
Dick Button smiles next to a painting of him while honored at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018. NEW YORK — Dick Button was more than the most accomplished men’s figure skater in history. He was one of his sport’s greatest innovators and promoters.
“Dick was one of the most important figures in our sport,” Scott Hamilton said. “There wasn’t a skater after Dick who wasn’t helped by him in some way.” That began his dominance of international skating, and U.S. amateur sports. He was the first figure skater to win the prestigious Sullivan Award in 1949 — no other figure skater won it until Michelle Kwan in 2001.
With the Emmy Award-winning Button as the TV analyst, viewers got to learn not only the basics but the nuances of a sport foreign to many as he frankly broke down the performances. He became as much a fixture on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” as Jim McKay and the hapless ski jumper tumbling down the slope.
Button’s death coincided with another tragedy in the skating world, Wednesday night’s crash of an American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter and plummeted into the Potomac River outside Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board. Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers, and two former world champions who were coaching at the Skating Club of Boston were among the 14 people killed from the skating community.
Button’s Candid Productions, formed 1959, also produced such made-for-TV programs as “Battle of the Network Stars.” He also dabbled in acting, but the rink was his realm.
FIGURE SKATING OLYMPICS DICK BUTTON ATHLETES BROADCASTING
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