Latest news with #DickButton
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dick Button, first U.S. Olympic figure skating gold medalist, dies at 95
Dick Button, the legendary figure skater who became the first American to win Olympic gold in the sport, died Thursday at age 95, according to U.S. Figure Skating. In 1948, Button, then 18, won the first of back-to-back Olympic titles. He remains the youngest man to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal. His athletic style of jumping revolutionized the sport. At the 1948 St. Moritz Games, Button became the first skater to land a double Axel in competition. At the 1952 Oslo Games, he became the first skater to land a three-revolution jump in competition, hitting a triple loop en route to repeat gold. "It didn't seem like an enormous accomplishment," to win back-to-back Olympic golds, Button said in 1999. "It just seemed that it was the most natural thing in the world to go on and compete in the next championship." Button converted his medals into a belt buckle for his mom and a paper weight for his dad. "They both wanted me to go to law school; I didn't (want to)," said Button, who relented and went to law school after the 1952 Games. "So when I graduated, their Christmas present was the degree." Both of his Olympic events were held outdoors. Skaters competed to music being played on records and were also judged on compulsory figures, or tracing patterns on the ice. 'It was, in a sense, far more difficult because of the complexity and school figures and compulsory figures and the time — and the all-consuming time — that took,' he said. Button also won seven consecutive U.S. titles — the first at age 16 — and five consecutive world titles, succeeding while also a student at Harvard. No man has matched either streak since. "He was the guy that changed the sport forever," 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton said in 2024. "So many people that came after him learned from him. ... His presence and his greatness and the explosive nature of his athletic ability was beyond spectacular. And he did it all outdoors — all of it outdoors. I can't even imagine skating at that level, outdoors, and he did it in 1948 all the way through 1952." Button turned professional shortly after the 1952 Games and spent decades as a figure skating broadcaster. He worked for NBC Olympics at the Winter Games in 2006 and 2010 and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015. "I lusted for skating," Button said. "The only Christmas present I ever remember getting was a pair of ice skates. They'd broken through the box. The teeth were sticking out on the end, and I was so excited about it I ran around the house showing them to everybody without even taking them out of the box. I couldn't wait to get on the ice." Button's death came during a tragic time for the sport after several members of the U.S. figure skating community were aboard a flight that collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.
CNN
31-01-2025
- Sport
- CNN
Dick Button, daredevil ‘godfather' of figure skating and Emmy-winning commentator, dies at 95
Dick Button, the two-time Olympic champion who revolutionized figure skating and literally took the sport to new heights, died Thursday, US Figure Skating said. He was 95 years old. Button died hours after a catastrophic plane crash killed skaters representing the past, present and future of the sport. The tragedy stirred memories of the 1961 plane crash that killed the entire US world figure skating team, including many of Button's peers. Born Richard Totten Button on July 18, 1929, the daredevil athlete defied both gravity and expectations during his career. At age 12, Button was told he would never be a good skater. So he doubled down on his training. And just four years later, at age 16, he became US champion. That was just the beginning of his meteoric rise. Over the next few years, Button attempted dangerous feats that seemed unfathomable at the time but are now routine for elite skaters. At the 1948 Winter Olympics, Button became the first skater to land a double Axel jump in competition. The 18-year-old won gold, becoming the first US Olympic figure skating champion. He also became the youngest man to ever win Olympic figure skating gold – a distinction that remains unsurpassed more than 70 years later. Button's penchant for taking risks included his debut of the 'flying camel' spin. It's a move where a skater spinning on one leg hurls himself into the air, lands on the other foot, and continues the spin going backward with both the torso and free leg parallel to the ice. The move is sometimes known as the Button camel. After his first Olympic gold, Button enrolled at Harvard University – yet still managed to win the world figure skating championship every year he was a student there, according to The Harvard Crimson. At the next Olympics, the Harvard senior became the first athlete to land a triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – at the 1952 Games. He won that Olympic title, too. Button later became a well-known figure skating commentator both admired and dreaded by skaters he critiqued. 'No other figure skater embodies the sport as much as Dick Button. He is, and always will be, the godfather of this sport,' 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski said, according to the Sports Video Group. 'Using his wit, passion, and unfiltered honesty, Dick drew in ever increasing television audiences whether they were new viewers or dedicated fans.' Even 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton – who himself became a legendary skating commentator – said he always felt the need to prove himself under Button's watchful eye. 'Basically, I spent the last five years of my amateur career doing everything in my power to shut him up,' Hamilton said with a laugh. 'He was up there not to be a cheerleader, but to be an analyst, and so his criticisms were — to me — very inspiring and very informative.' Button's unique commentary led to a 1981 Emmy Award for outstanding sports personality. He critiqued not just the technical elements of skating, but also the artistic side – and skaters he thought fell short in either category. At the 2018 Olympics, Button described a skater whose connection to the music seemed amiss: 'She has the opportunity to be smoldering on the ice, but her skating and the music mean nothing to one another,' he said, according to But another athlete garnered some interesting praise: '(Satoko) Miyahara doesn't have worthless arm movement,' Button said. More than 50 years after his first Olympic gold, Button took to the ice again – but fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury. 'What happened was that I must have tried a jump, and I fell,' Button recalled in 2003. 'All I know is the blood was coming out of my ear. I had a concussion, and I lost the hearing in (one) ear.' Button said he didn't even remember his first month of recovery. 'I'm told I had to be put in a straitjacket for the first five days because I was so violent, which is a reflection of having really damaged your brain,' he said. But once again, Button defied expectations. After extensive rehabilitation, he relearned how to walk and became a national spokesman for the Brain Injury Association of America. By 2006, Button was back in the commentators' booth for the Winter Olympics in Torino, delivering his refreshingly blunt analyses. His sense of humor was still intact, too. After his life-threatening injury, Button reportedly said: 'I'm fine. I'm here, and I'm wreaking havoc as usual.'
Fox News
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Nirvana Reunites for LA's FireAid Concert (NEW: 7AM)
Nirvana shocked fans with an unexpected reunion at L.A.'s FireAid benefit concert. Plus, Dick Button, America's first Olympic gold medalist in figure skating, has died at 94. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Figure Skating Champion Dick Button Passes Away at 95
Reports about Dick Button's death are circulating online, and people want to know whether this is true. Button was an iconic athlete who won numerous accolades throughout his career, including two gold medals in Men's singles in consecutive Winter Olympics and five consecutive World Championships. Here are all the details of Dick Button's death. Richard Button died on Thursday, January 30, in North Salem, New York. The legendary figure skater and commentator was 95 years old. The official handle of U.S. Figure Skating on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed his death with the following post, 'U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button,' the post reads. 'The two-time Olympic champion's pioneering style & award-winning television commentary revolutionized figure skating. His legacy will live on forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones.' Dutton is survived by his children, Edward and Emily, and his partner, Dennis Grimaldi. Originally from Englewood, New Jersey, Button was interested in skating since he was quite young, but it wasn't until he was 12 years old that he decided to give it serious attention. As mentioned above, he won Olympic gold twice, at the 1948 St. Moritz and 1952 Oslo, and World Championships five times, 1948 Davos, 1949 Paris, 1950 London, 1951 Milan, and 1952 Paris. He also won seven consecutive US Championships and three consecutive North American Championships. Further, he won the European Championship in Prague in 1948, a rare feat for an American figure skater. After retiring as a competitor, Button earned a law degree from Harvard and enjoyed a brief career as a performer in ice shows. He acted in various movies and TV shows, including Hans Brinker, Silver Skates (1958), and The Young Doctors (1961). Button also served as a commentator at various figure skating events. Notably, the news of Button's passing comes after 14 people associated with figure skating, along with others, were killed after an American Airlines jet had a mid-air collision with a US Army helicopter on Wednesday outside Washington, D.C. Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon. The post Figure Skating Champion Dick Button Passes Away at 95 appeared first on Mandatory.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
US skating great Dick Button dies aged 95
US figure skating great Dick Button, a two-time Olympic champion whose technical prowess revolutionised 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 revolutionised 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 and 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 for taking the sport to another level, excelling in compulsory figures and in free programmes which he peppered with his technical prowess. At the first post-World War II Winter Games in Oslo, the teenage Button became the first man to successfully complete the double axel, on his way to becoming the first American Olympic figure skating champion. 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. dif-ea/bsp
