Button, Dick

Dick Button

1929-

American figure skater

Ranked as one of the greatest figure skaters of all time—perhaps second only to Sonja Henie in terms of his impact on the sport—Dick Button remains an influential force on the contemporary scene more than fifty years after he won his second of two Olympic Gold Medals. In addition to his Olympic triumphs, Button was the reigning U.S. men's champion from 1946 to 1952 and claimed the World Championship titles from 1948 to 1952. Honored with the James E. Sullivan Award in 1949 as the country's Best Amateur Athlete, Button finished his B.A. at Harvard University in 1952 and followed it with a law degree in 1956. A regular commentator on ABC's Wide World of Sports since 1962, Button won an Emmy Award as Best Sports Personality in 1981. He also heads Candid Productions, a television production company that he founded in 1959, and is instrumental in

sponsoring several professional skating competitions that have expanded the range of opportunities available to figure skaters after their amateur careers end.

Sixteen-Year-Old U.S. Champion

Richard Totten Button was born in Englewood, New Jersey on July 18, 1929, to businessman George Button and his wife, the former Evelyn Bunn Totten. He was the youngest of three boys and at first did not appear to posses any special athletic ability. Button started skating at the age of six with his school friends and enjoyed the sport enough that he later traded in a pair of hockey skates that he had received as a Christmas present for figure skates. Button's family was wealthy enough that he could take private lessons with coach Gustav Lussi at the Philadelphia Skating and Humane Club and in Lake Placid, New York. The lessons paid off and in 1943, when Button entered his first competition at the Eastern States Novice Championship, he skated away with the silver medal.

Just weeks after that second-place finish, fourteen-year-old Button won the gold medal at the Middle Atlantic Novice Championship in April 1943, which began a string of victories. In 1944 he took first place at the Eastern States Junior and United States Novice Championships; the following year, Button won the gold medal at Junior Championships. In 1946 the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) resumed its men's senior competition, which had not been held for the prior two years because of World War II. Sixteen-year-old Button won the event and became the youngest men's champion in U.S. figure skating history. He repeated as champion every year through 1952. With seven championships, Button shared the honor of holding the most U.S. men's titles with Roger Turner, who reigned from 1928 to 1934.

Olympic Gold Medalist

In his climb to the top of the U.S. field, Button earned a reputation for innovation, often combining moves that highlighted the control and power of his skating. In his first International Skating Union (ISU) World Championship appearance in 1947 (the first time the event was held since 1939), Button introduced the flying (or "Button") camel, in which he jumped into the traditional camel spin with one leg stretched out parallel to the ice. Button finished second in the championship, even though he earned the most points of any skater in the competition.

Button began the 1948 season with his second victory in the U.S. Championship, followed by a victory in the European Championship (which North Americans were allowed to enter at that time). In his first Olympic appearance at the 1948 St. Moritz Games, Button built a solid lead through the first two stages of the competition, compulsory (or school) figures and the technical program. In the free skate, Button amazed the audience by performing a double axel jump, requiring two-and-one-half turns in the air. It was the first time the jump had been completed in competition and it helped Button win the gold medal. In doing so, he became the first American to claim the men's title at the Olympic Games.

Entering Harvard University in 1948, Button continued to reign as men's U.S. champion while he completed his bachelor's degree, which he received in 1952. Button was also honored with the James E. Sullivan Award, given by the Amateur Athletic Union to the best amateur athlete in the United States. Until Michelle Kwan won the award in 2002, Button was the only figure skater to earn such a distinction. In 1952 Button returned for his second Olympics, this time in Oslo, Norway. As the current U.S. and World Championship titleholder, Button was the favorite entering the competition. Button again made Olympic history by completing a triple-loop jump in the free skate—the first triple jump of any kind ever completed in competition—and claimed his second gold medal. Ever the perfectionist, Button was dissatisfied with his performance; as he recalled in a profile on the U.S. Olympic Committee's Web site, "I overtrained for the second [Olympic Games] and made some errors and that has always bugged me more than the fact that I won the Olympics." Button followed the Olympic victory with a final win at the World Championship in Paris, France and then retired from amateur ranks. Throughout the 1950s he skated with the Ice Capades, a popular skating program that toured the country; Button also entered Harvard Law School, where he completed his law degree in 1956.

Sportscaster and Producer

In 1959 Button formed Candid Productions, a television production company that later presented many professional skating competitions and other sports programs such as The Battle of the Network Stars. In 1962 Button began appearing on ABC's Wide World of Sports as a commentator on figure skating; the association has lasted more than forty years and led to an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as Outstanding Sports Personality in 1981. After marrying skating coach and choreographer Slavka Kohout in March 1973, the couple had two children, Edward and Emily, before divorcing in 1984.

Chronology

1929	Born July 18 to George and Evelyn (Bunn Totten) Button in Englewood, New Jersey
1941	Begins taking figure skating lessons
1952	Receives B.A. from Harvard University
1956	Receives law degree from Harvard University
1962	Begins appearing on ABC's Wide World of Sports
1973	Marries Slavka Kohout on March 10
1984	Divorces Kohout
2001	Recovers from head injury received while skating

Awards and Accomplishments

1943	Won silver medal, United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) Eastern States Novice Championship
1943	Won gold medal, USFSA Middle Atlantic Novice Championship
1944	Won gold medal, USFSA Eastern States Junior Championship
1944	Won gold medal, USFSA United States Novice Championship
1945	Won gold medal, USFSA Junior Championship
1946-52	Won gold medal, USFSA Men's Championship
1947	Won silver medal, International Skating Union (ISU) World Championship
1948	Won gold medal, ISU European Championship
1948	Won gold medal, Saint Moritz Winter Olympic Games
1948-52	Won gold medal, ISU World Championship
1949	Awarded James E. Sullivan Award for best amateur athlete in the United States
1952	Won gold medal, Oslo Winter Olympic Games
1976	Inducted into the U.S. and World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
1981	Received Emmy Award, Outstanding Sports Personality, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

In his role as a Wide World of Sports analyst, Button remains one of the most familiar figure skaters to the American public decades after his retirement as an athlete. He is also regarded as a leading authority on the sport. When figure skating underwent one of its biggest changes in 1990, dropping the compulsory figures from the men's and women's competitions, Button was a leading critic of the move. "The skating of figures is an art form in itself," he told Sports Illustrated, "it has nothing to do with free skating." When the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan controversy erupted in 1994 over Harding's attempt to force Kerrigan out of the Olympics with an injury, however, Button refrained from commenting. "I found it disgusting, especially the shark-feeding media," he later told Mark Leibovich of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service in a 1996 interview.

Remained a Force in Figure Skating

Although a leading advocate in popularizing figure skating, Button does not hesitate to critique trends that he thinks are harmful to the sport. Reviewing the competitive pressures that young figure skaters endure, Button is apprehensive at the toll such demands take on the young athletes' lives, particularly in terms of their schooling. "I have an interest in the sport, but I also have an interest in the people who do it," he explained in a 1998 interview with Mark Kram of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, "The problem is, the people who do it are just so overloaded." He added, "What it comes down to is that there is so much money to be made, it doesn't seem to matter if [the skaters] are educated or not." Button is also critical of the ISU's refusal to adopt fundamental reforms in the judging process, even after a scandal erupted at the 2002 Olympics over the initial second-place finish of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the pair's competition. Sale and Pelletier were later awarded a gold medal, but the ISU continued to drag its feet on reforming its practices.

A legend in his sport, Button continues to be one of the most influential persons in figure skating more than half a century after his Olympic triumphs. Not only has he educated the American public on the finer points of skating, he has also managed to popularize the sport as a mass-media spectator event. Although his appreciation for the sport is obvious, however, Button does not shy away from expressing his frank assessment over the sport's shortcomings. In doing so, he remains an influential, if sometimes contentious, authority in the world of figure skating.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY BUTTON:

Dick Button on Skates. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1955.

Where Is He Now?

More than fifty years after his second Olympic gold medal, Button remains an important force in contemporary figure skating. In the wake of the judging controversy in the pairs' competition at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, Button was one of the most vocal critics of the ISU's unwillingness to reform its practices. Using his forum as a commentator on ABC's Wide World of Sports, Button was particularly critical of the ISU's continuing accreditation of judges who had been found guilty of cheating at past events.

In January of 2001 Button suffered a head injury when he fell during a rehearsal of a skating performance to be included in a Wide World of Sports segment. The mishap required several weeks of rehabilitation before Button could return to the air. On the U.S. Olympic Committee's Web site Button said, "I'm fine, I'm here, and I'm wreaking havoc as usual." Button continues to serve as an analyst for about ten USFSA and ISU events each year. He lives in Manhattan and owns a fifty-acre farm in Old Salem, New York.

Instant Skating. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1964.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Brennan, Christine. Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skating' Olympic Gold Medals. New York: Scribner, 1998.

Brennan, Christine. Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating. New York: Scribner, 1996.

Fleming, Peggy with Peter Kaminsky. The Long Program: Skating Toward Life's Victories. New York: Pocket Books, 1999.

Smith, Beverley. Talking Figure Skating: Behind the Scenes in the World's Most Glamorous Sport. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1997.

U.S. Figure Skating Association. The Official Book of Figure Skating. New York: Simon & Schuster Editions, 1998.

Periodicals

Kram, Mark. "Dick Button Is a Pioneer, Educator of Figure Skating." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (January 2, 1998): 102.

Leibovich, Mark. "TV's Guru of Skating Still Knows How to Navigate Around Thin Ice." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (January 26, 1996): 126.

Wulf, Steve. "Disfigured." Sports Illustrated (June 20, 1988): 13.

Other

"Dick Button." ESPN Web site. http://espn.go.com/abcsports/columns/button_dick/bio.html (December 8, 2002).

"Flashback … Figure Skating's Dick Button." United States Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic-usa.org/news/020902figure.html (February 9, 2002).

Sketch by Timothy Borden