Olympic figure skating legend Dick Button dead at 95

Dick Button, the astir accomplished men's fig skater successful past and 1 of the sport's astir pivotal figures, died connected Thursday. He was 95.

The tragic quality was confirmed by his his son, Edward. He did not supply a origin of death. Button won 2 Olympic golden medals and 5 consecutive satellite championships. His decease comes connected a acheronian time for the sport.

Earlier connected Thursday, it emerged that 14 members of the skating assemblage were killed successful the Washington DC plane crash, erstwhile an American Airlines flight collided with an Army chopper and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River.

Everyone connected committee was killed, including 2 teenage fig skaters, their mothers, and 2 erstwhile satellite champions who were coaching astatine the Skating Club of Boston were among the 14 radical killed from the skating community.

Button skated for the Boston nine and remained adjacent to it for the remainder of his life. The trophy country astatine the nine is named successful his honor.

Doug Zeghibe, the caput of the Skating Club of Boston successful Norwood, Massachusetts, announced the names of the six radical associated with his nine who were connected board.

They are: Jinna Han, Jin Han, Spencer Lane, Christine Lane, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova.

As an entrepreneur and broadcaster, meanwhile, Button helped alteration a niche athletics into the showpiece of each Winter Olympics.

'Dick was 1 of the astir important figures successful our sport,' Olympic golden medalist Scott Hamilton said. There wasn't a skater aft Dick who wasn't helped by him successful immoderate way.'

Button´s interaction began aft World War II. He was the archetypal U.S. men's champion - and his country's youngest astatine property 16 - erstwhile that contention returned successful 1946. 

Two years later, he took the rubric astatine the St. Moritz Olympics, competing outdoors. He performed the archetypal treble axel successful immoderate contention and became the archetypal American to triumph the men´s event.

That began his dominance of planetary skating, and U.S. amateur sports. He was the archetypal fig skater to triumph the prestigious Sullivan Award successful 1949 - nary different fig skater won it until Michelle Kwan successful 2001.

In 1952, portion a Harvard student, he won a 2nd golden astatine the Oslo Games, making much past with the archetypal triple leap (a loop) successful competition. 

Soon after, helium won a 5th satellite title, past gave up his eligibility arsenic an amateur. All Olympic sports were taxable to an amateur/professional part astatine the time.

'I had achieved everything I could person dreamed of doing arsenic a skater,' said Button, who earned a instrumentality grade from Harvard successful 1956.  'I was capable to bask the Ice Capades (show) and support my manus successful skating, and that was precise important to me.'