Dick Button, Olympic skating legend and announcer, dead at 95

Dick Button was more than the most accomplished men’s figure skater in history.He was one of his sport’s greatest innovators and promoters.Button, winner of two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships, died Thursday, said his son, Edward, who did not provide a cause.

He was 95.As an entrepreneur and broadcaster, Button promoted skating and its athletes, transforming a niche sport into the showpiece of every Winter Olympics.“Dick was one of the most important figures in our sport,” Scott Hamilton said.“There wasn’t a skater after Dick who wasn’t helped by him in some way.”Button’s impact began after World War II.

He was the first U.S.men’s champion — and his country’s youngest at age 16 — when that competition returned in 1946.

Two years later, he took the title at the St.Moritz Olympics, competing outdoors.

He performed the first double axel in any competition and became the first American to win the men’s event.“By the way, that jump had a cheat on it,” Button told the U.S.Olympic Committee website.

“But listen, I did it and that was what counted.”That began his dominance of international skating, and U.S.amateur sports.

He was the first figure skater to win the prestigious Sullivan Award in 1949 — no other figure skater won it until Michelle Kwan in 2001.In 1952, while a Harvard student, he won a second gold at the Oslo Games, making more history with the first triple jump (a loop) in competition.Soon after, he won a fifth world title, then gave up his eligibility as an amateur.

All Olympic sports were subject to an amateur/professional division at the time.“I had achieved everything I could have dreamed of doing as a skater,” said Button, who earned a law degree from Harvard in 1956.“I was able to enjoy the Ice Capades (show) and keep my hand in skating, and that was very important to me.”With the Emmy Award-winning Button as the TV analyst, viewers got to learn not only the basics but the...