Dick Button

Dick Button, born in 1929, American figure skater, winner of men's figure skating gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1948 and 1952. He also won the United States championship seven times (1946-1952) and the world championship five times (1948-1952). Button's athletic performances greatly enhanced the popularity of men's figure skating.

Born Richard Totten Button in Englewood, New Jersey, he began ice skating competitively at the age of 13 and won the United States novice title at the age of 14. In 1946 he won the first of seven consecutive titles at the United States Figure Skating Championships, and in 1947 he placed second in the world championships and won the first of his three consecutive North American championships (1947, 1949, 1951).

Button won the U.S., European, and world championships in 1948, and he also won the gold medal at the Olympics that year in Saint Moritz, Switzerland. He was the first American to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal, and at the 1948 games he also became the first skater to perform the double axel jump in competition. Between the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, while also attending Harvard College, Button dominated the competition, retaining his U.S., North American, and world titles. In 1949 he received the James E. Sullivan Memorial Award, given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU) to the outstanding amateur athlete in the country. Button won another gold medal at the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway, becoming the first skater to perform a triple jump in competition. He turned professional after the Olympics and later worked as a television sports commentator. He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, as a member of the first class of inductees.