According to U.S. Figure Skating, legendary figure skater Dick Button passed away on Thursday. He was the voice of the sport on television and won two Olympic gold medals on the rink.
Button was ninety-five.
Button’s death was first reported by the Associated Press, who cited his son Edward, who did not specify the cause of death.
Later, the news of Button’s death in North Salem, New York, was confirmed by U.S. Figure Skating, which was already in shock after over a dozen aspiring participants were killed in a midair crash over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.
According to a statement from the American governing organization of the sport, “U.S. Figure Skating mourns the loss of the legendary Dick Button,” Figure skating was changed by the two-time Olympic champion’s innovative approach and award-winning television commentary. His influence will last forever. We send his family and loved ones our sincerest sympathies.
Button originally gained notoriety in 1948 when he became the first skater to win gold in a double axelin competition at the Olympics in St. Moritz.
In 1952, he won a gold medal for his revolutionary work in Oslo, where he invented the Button camel, now known as the flying camel spin, and stuck the first-ever triple loop.
However, Button’s enduring legacy came with cameras and microphones rather than skates.
At the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, he provided commentary on figure skating for CBS.
Button became a mainstay of the Olympics as audiences embraced his wit and raw honesty. For many generations of Americans, the sport itself was identified with Button’s voice.
Before being admitted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015, he worked for NBC as a figure skating analyst during the Winter Games in Turin in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010.
Dick Button is the epitome of the sport among figure skaters. Olympic gold medallist and NBC Sports figure skating analyst Tara Lipinski stated in Button’s Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame article that he is and always will be the sport’s godfather.
According to Johnny Weir, Lipinski’s radio colleague, Button stands out for his direct observations.
According to Weir, Dick Button established an honest and open environment in figure-skating broadcasting where no subject or time was off-limits. “He told it like it was, even when his opinion wasn t a popular one.”
According to U.S. Figure Skating, Button is survived by his two children, Edward and Emily Button, as well as his longtime spouse and partner Dennis Grimaldi.