Dick Button, first U.S. Olympic figure skating gold medalist, dies at 95

Dick Button, the legendary figure skater who became the first American to win Olympic gold in the sport, died Thursday at age 95 of natural causes in North Salem, New York, according to U.S. Figure Skating.

In 1948, Button, then 18, won the first of back-to-back Olympic titles. He remains the youngest man to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal.

Button’s athletic style of jumping revolutionized the sport.

At the 1948 St. Moritz Games, he became the first skater to land a double Axel in competition.

At the 1952 Oslo Games, he became the first skater to land a three-revolution jump in competition, hitting a triple loop en route to repeat gold.

“It didn’t seem like an enormous accomplishment,” to win back-to-back Olympic golds, Button said in 1999. “It just seemed that it was the most natural thing in the world to go on and compete in the next championship.”

Button converted his medals into a belt buckle for his mom and a paper weight for his dad.

“They both wanted me to go to law school; I didn’t (want to),” said Button, who relented and went to law school after the 1952 Games. “So when I graduated, their Christmas present was the degree.”

Both of his Olympic events were held outdoors. Skaters competed to music being played on records and were also judged on compulsory figures, or tracing patterns on the ice.

“I lusted for skating,” Button said. “The only Christmas present I ever remember getting was a pair of ice skates. They’d broken through the box. The teeth were sticking out on the end, and I was so excited about it I ran around the house showing them to everybody without even taking them out of the box. I couldn’t wait to get on the ice.”

Button also won seven consecutive U.S. titles — the first at age 16 — and five consecutive world titles, succeeding while also a student at Harvard. No man has matched either streak since.

“He was the guy that changed the sport forever,” 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton said in 2024. “So many people that came after him learned from him. … His presence and his greatness and the explosive nature of his athletic ability was beyond spectacular. And he did it all outdoors — all of it outdoors. I can’t even imagine skating at that level, outdoors, and he did it in 1948 all the way through 1952.”

Button turned professional shortly after the 1952 Games and spent five decades as a figure skating broadcaster, including with NBC Olympics at the Winter Games in 2006 and 2010.

“It was heaven for me, and I loved every minute of it,” he said in his 2015 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame induction speech.

In a statement, U.S. Figure Skating President and acting CEO Samuel Auxier said Button “singularly personified the sport of figure skating.”

“Dick’s expertise and passion challenged generations of athletes to be better while building a fan base that remains today,” Auxier said. “While we mourn his loss, we celebrate Dick’s many talents and offer our deepest sympathy to his spouse, Dennis, and children Emily and Edward.”

Button’s death came during a tragic time for the sport after several members of the U.S. figure skating community were aboard a flight that collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.