Dick Button

American figure skater and skating analyst who was a two-time Olympic champion (1948, 1952) and five-time consecutive world champion (1948–1952). He was also the only non-European man to have become European champion.

Button is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the double Axel jump in competition, in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – in 1952.

A passionate fan of the sport, he later became a sports broadcaster and wrote an autobiography about his days on ice.

Button came from an upper middle-class background, the third son. He started skating at five in hand-me-down skates, seriously competing by the time he was 16 and winning his first U.S. title. He studied piano, and passed the bar to become a lawyer, but not for long.

CBS hired him to broadcast Olympic reports, which he did with verve and candor, sometimes coming out with frosty rink side comments. He remarked of 1988 champ Katarina Witt: "She is very sexy, but there is not one move she does that I'll remember." Of Surya Bonaly: "She can do a lot of triple jumps, but basically she does not know how to skate."

Dick Button married on 10 March 1975 and had two children. He died in North Salem on 30 January 2025 at the age of 95.