Dick Button smiled next to a painting of him while she was honored in the US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California, Thursday, January 4, 2018.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
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Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
New York (AP) – Dick Button was more than the artistic skater of the most accomplished men in history. He was one of the major innovators and promoters of his sport, the man responsible not only for inventing him with the rotation of flying camels, but to describe him to generations of fans.
He was athlete and actor, diffuser and entrepreneur.
“Dick was one of the most important figures in our sport,” said Scott Hamilton, Olympic champion in 1984. “There was no skater after Dick who was not helped by him way or another. “
Winner of two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships, Button died Thursday in North Salem, New York, at 95. His death was confirmed by his son, Edward, who did not provide cause, although button was declining healthy.
“The pioneering style of the double Olympic champion and the award -winning television comments have revolutionized figure skating,” said American figure skating. “His heritage will live forever. We present our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
His death also rocked a community of crazy figure skating already in shock from the accident on Wednesday evening of an American Airlines flight and an army helicopter outside Washington, DC, who killed Everyone on board. Two adolescent skaters, their mothers and two former world champions who trained the Boston skating club – where Button also patinated and that he remained close to the rest of his life – was one of the 14 people killed in the skating community .
The trophy room of the Boston skating club is appointed in honor of Button, and the club has hosted the button -making dick button’s artistic skating showcase, which is designed to promote the beauty and innovation of skating as a form of ‘art.
Button’s impact on figure skating began after the Second World War. He was the first American male champion – and the youngest in his country at the time at the age of 16 – when the competition returned in 1946. Two years later, he took gold at the Games Olympic of St. Moritz, at the time when competitions were organized outside. He played the first double axel in any competition and became the first American to win the male event, paving the way for future champions such as Hamilton, Brian Botano and Nathan Chen.
Dick Button of Englewood, NJ, champion of the United States and North American, and winner of the European title, executes a jump during a training session in St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 19, 1948, in preparation Winter Olympic Games from 1948.
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“By the way, this jump had a cheater,” said Button. “But listen, I did it and that’s what was counting.”
This first Olympic title began its domination of international skating and American amateur sports in general. He was the first artistic skater to win the prestigious Sullivan Prize in 1949 – no other artistic skater won him before Michelle Kwan in 2001.
In 1952, when he was still a student at Harvard, Button won a second gold at the Oslo Games, making more history with the first triple jump (a loop) in competition. Shortly after, he won a fifth world title, then abandoned his eligibility as an amateur to play in shows; All Olympic sports were subject to an amateur-professional division at the time.
“I had achieved everything I could dream of doing as a skater,” said Button, who had graduated in Harvard law in 1956. “I was able to take advantage of Ice and keep my hand in Skating, and it was very important to me.
With a frank and often brutally honest style, Button has become a award -winning television analyst at the Emmy Awards, helping viewers not only learn the basics but also the nuances of an unknown sport to most occasional fans. It has become as much a must at the “Wide World of Sports” by ABC as Jim McKay and the unfortunate ski ski who dropped on the slope.
“Dick Button is the guardian of the history of figure skating and his excellent voice,” said Boitano, 1988 Olympic champion, in the autobiography of Button. “He did the words” Lutz “and” Salchow “part of our daily vocabulary.”
After the 1961 plane crash which killed the whole American figure skating team on the way to the world championships, which were then canceled, button convinced the sports director of ABC Roone Arledge to televise the event from 1962 on “Wide World”. It was at this point that he joined the network as a commentator and made figure skating to a public television audience.
Button then organized professional events that provided skaters with an avenue to take advantage of their capacities once their competitive careers are over. The World Professional Figure Skating Championships, the Champions and Others challenge have provided Hamilton, the Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean dance team, Kurt Browning, Katarina Witt and others a new platform to play.
Button even tried to play, to play in shows and movies like “The Young Doctors” and “The Bad New Bears Go To Japan”. His studio, Candida Productions, helped produce programs designed for television such as “Battle of the Network Stars”.
“Dick Button has created an open and honest space in the broadcast of figure skating where no subject or moment was prohibited,” said Johnny Weir, the triple American champion and current analyst of figure skating NBC. “He said it as it was, even when his opinion was not popular. His Zingers were still in my mind when I played for him, and I wanted to make him as happy and proud as my coaches.
“This is something very special in the commentary on figure skating,” said Weir. “As an athlete, we rarely have the opportunity to speak, and we are counting on television voices to tell our story for us. No one could do it like Mr. Button.”
Button is survived by his longtime partner, Dennis Grimaldi, and his two children, Edward and Emily.
