Dick Button

Dick Button
Button commentating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid
Personal information
Full name	Richard Totten Button
Country represented	United States
Born	(1929-07-18) July 18, 1929 (age 87) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Former coach	Gustave Lussi
Skating club	SC of Boston Philadelphia SC & HS
Retired	1952
Medal record Men's figure skating Representing  United States Olympic Games 1952 Oslo Men's singles 1948 St. Moritz Men's singles World Championships 1952 Paris Men's singles 1951 Milan Men's singles 1950 London Men's singles 1949 Paris Men's singles 1948 Davos Men's singles 1947 Stockholm Men's singles European Championships 1948 Prague Men's singles North American Championships 1951 Calgary Men's singles 1949 Philadelphia Men's singles 1947 Ottawa Men's singles

Richard Totten "Dick" Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is a twice Olympic Champion (1948, 1952) and five-time World Champion (1948–1952). He is 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. He also invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the "Button camel".

Richard Totten Button was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey. He began skating at an early age. He did not begin training seriously until the age of 12 after his father overheard him being told he would never be a good skater. Soon after, Button's father sent him to New York to take lessons from ice dancing coach Joe Carroll, where he trained over the summer in Lake Placid, New York, eventually switching on Carroll's recommendation to coach Gustave Lussi, who coached Button for the rest of his career.

In his first competition, the 1943 Eastern States Novice Championship, he placed second behind Jean-Pierre Brunet. In 1944, he won the Eastern States Junior title which earned him the opportunity to compete at the National Novice Championships. He won the event. In 1945, his third year of serious skating, he won the Eastern States Senior title and the national Junior title. He was also skating pairs, and competed with Barbara Jones in Junior Pairs at the 1946 Eastern States Championships. They performed Button's singles program side by side with minor modifications and won. This competition, where Button also competed as a single skater, led into the 1946 U.S. Championships. Button won the 1946 U.S. Championships at age 16, winning by a unanimous vote. According to Button, this was the first time anyone had won the men's novice, junior, and senior titles in three consecutive years. This win earned Button a spot at the 1947 World Championships.