Dick Button was more than the most successful male artistic skater in history. He was one of the greatest innovatives and promoters of his sport.
Button, winner of two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships, died Thursday, said his son, Edward, who did not provide a cause. He was 95 years old.
As an entrepreneur and broadcaster, Button promoted skating and athletes, transforming a sport niche into the masterpiece of each winter Olympic Games.
“Dick was one of the most important figures in our sport,” said Scott Hamilton. “There was no skater after Dick was not helped by him in some way.”
Marcio Jose Sánchez / AP
Button’s impact began after World War II. He was the first American male champion, and the youngest in his country at age 16, when that competition returned in 1946. Two years later, He took the title at the St. Moritz Olympic Gamescompeting outdoors. He made the first double axel in any competition and became the first American to win the male event.
According to him Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane SocietyButton was a member of 1946-1952. Button is now in the club’s hall.
“By the way, that jump had a trap,” Button told the US Olympic Committee website. “But listening, I did and that was what he said.”
That began its dominance of international skating and the United States amateur sports. He was the first skater figured to win the prestigious Sullivan Prize in 1949: no other artistic skater won it to Michelle Kwan in 2001.
In 1952, while he was a Harvard student, He won a second gold in the Oslo Gamesmaking more history with the first triple jump (a loop) in the competition. Shortly after, he won a fifth world title, then renounced his eligibility as an amateur. All Olympic sports were subject to an amateur/professional division at that time.
“I had achieved everything I could have dreamed of doing as skater,” said Button, who obtained a title in Harvard’s right in 1956. “I could enjoy the ice layers (show) and keep my hand in the skating, and that It was very important to me. “
With the Emmy Award winning button as a television analyst, the spectators learned not only the basic concepts but also the nuances of a foreign sport for many, since it frankly broke the performances. He became an accessory so much about the “wide world of sports” of ABC as Jim McKay and the misunderstanding ski jersey falling down the slope.
“Dick Button is the custodian of the history of artistic skating and his voice par excellence,” said the 1988 Olympic champion Brian Baitano in Button’s autobiography. “He made the words ‘Lutz’ and ‘Salchow’ of our daily vocabulary.”
After a 1961 plane crash, he killed the entire artistic skating team of the United States on the way to the World Championship, which were then canceled, Button persuaded the ABC Roone Arledge executive to televise the 1962 event in “Wide World” . It was then that he joined the network as a commentator.
Button’s death coincided with another tragedy in the world of skating, the accident on Wednesday night of an American Airlines flight that crashed with an army helicopter and collapsed on the Potomac River outside Washington, DC, killing everyone aboard. Two teenage artistic skaters, their mothers and two former world champions that trained in the Boston skating club were among the 14 people killed by the skating community.
Button skated for the Boston Club and remained close to him for the rest of his life. The trophy room in the club is named in its honor.
He also provided opportunities for skaters to win money after their competitive careers. He directed professional events that he created for television for years, attracting many main names in sport: Hamilton, Torvill and Dean, Kristi Yamaguchi, Kurt Browning and Katarina Witt.
Button’s sincere productions, formed in 1959, also produced programs made for television such as “Battle of the Network Stars.” He also ventured into the performance, but the track was his kingdom.
“Dick Button created an open and honest space in the transmission of artistic skating where no topic or moment was out of the limits,” said Johnny Weir, the three -time American champion and current figurative skating analyst from NBC Sports. “He said it as it was, even when his opinion was not popular. His Zingers were always in my mind when he acted for him, and I wanted to do it as happy and proud as I would do with my coaches.
“I think it is very special in commenting figurative skating. As a athlete, we rarely have the opportunity to speak and trust the voices of television to tell our story. No one could do it as Mr. Button.”
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