The American artistic skating icon Dick Button, who won consecutive Olympic gold medals in the ice before becoming the voice of sport on television, died Thursday, said the artistic skating.
He was 95 years old.
Associated Press first reported the death of Button, citing his son, Edward, who did not reveal a cause.
The American artistic skating, already staggering for the death of more than a dozen promising competitors in a collision in the air on the Potomac River near Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, later confirmed the news of Button’s death In North Salem, New York, New York.
“The figurative skating of the United States cries the loss of the legendary Dick button,” he said in a statement. “The pioneering style of the two -time Olympic champion and the award -winning television comment revolutionized the figurative skating. His legacy will live forever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
Scott Hamilton, who won gold in 1984, published his and Button’s image with the emoji of a broken heart, shortly after the word of his death spread.
An 18 -year -old button First he came to fame in 1948, winning the Olympic gold in St. Moritz, Switzerland, being the first skater to get a double axel in competition.
The innovative effort followed by hitting the first triple loop and innovating the “Button Camel”, now called Flying Camel Spin, in his winning effort of the gold medal in Oslo, Norway, in 1952.
No man would win consecutive individual gold medals until Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won everything in 2014 and was repeated in 2018.
Button graduated from Harvard University in 1952 and obtained his lawyer title there in 1955.
When he ended with the competition, Button kept skating with the ice layers and ice holidays.
But Button’s lasting legacy came, not with skates, but with microphones and cameras.
He commented on the artistic skating for CBS in 1960 at the Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, California.
The public delighted with the ingenuity and the brutal honesty of Button, making it an Olympic basic element. For generations of Americans, Button’s voice was synonymous with sport itself.
He provided an artistic skating analysis for NBC at the winter games in 2006 in Turin, Italy, and 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, before being included in the Hall of Fame of Sports Broadcasting in 2015.
“No other figurative skater embodies the sport as much as the Dick button. He is, and it will always be, the godfather of this sport, “he said in the profile of the fame of fame Sports of NBC Sports Skating, an Olympic gold medalist, he said in the profile of the Broadcasting Sports Hall of Fame Sports of Button.
Lipinski’s transmission partner Johnny Weir said Button’s Blunt Toma distinguished him.
“Dick Button created an open and honest space in the transmission of artistic skating where no topic or moment was out of the limits,” said Weir. “He said it as it was, even when his opinion was not popular.”
Button is survived by his former partner and spouse, Dennis Grimaldi, And two children, Edward Button and Emily Button, said the American artistic skating.
