Sunday, 22 December 2024

Dick Button

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Athletes 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Figure Skating
Statistics: 2 Men’s Singles Olympic Gold Medal (1948 & 1952)
5 Men’s Singles World Championship Gold Medals (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 & 1952)
1 Men’s Single World Championship Silver Medal (1947)
1 James E. Sullivan Award (1949)
Member of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
Member of the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame
Member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
Dick Button was not just the first great American figure skater; he also revolutionized the sport.

Button made his first mark on the world scene, winning the Silver Medal at the 1947 World Championship. Frustrated, Button redoubled his efforts and developed a more powerful style that could not be ignored by judges, and his era of dominance began.

In 1948, Button won Gold in both the St. Moritz Olympics and World Championships, becoming the first American to win either of those titles. Button would win the next four World Championships, and he successfully defended his Gold Medal at the 1952 Oslo Olympics.

Button was not just breaking thresholds on an American level, as he became the first skater to land a double axel and the first to do a triple jump of any kind. The American was also the creator of the flying camel spin, an add-on after being the first to perform the camel spin in a competition.

If there was a more innovative individual in figure skating, we don’t know who it is.

We are proud to nominate Dick Button for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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