BY BARRY WILNER
NEW YORK (AP) — Olympic figure skating great and authoritative commentator Dick Button has died at 95.
Button’s son, Edward, said he died Thursday and did not provide a cause.
Button won two Olympic gold medals, the most accomplished men’s figure skater in history. He also was the voice of his sport and one of its greatest innovators.
As an entrepreneur and broadcaster, Button promoted skating and its athletes, transforming a niche sport into the showpiece of every Winter Olympics.
His impact began after World War II. He was the first U.S. men’s champion — and the country’s youngest at 16 — when that competition returned in 1946. Two years later, he took the title at the St. Moritz Olympics. He performed the first double axel in any competition and was the first American to win the men’s event.
In 1952, while a Harvard student, he won a second gold at the Oslo Games, delivering the first triple jump — a loop — in competition. A fifth world title soon followed.
Olympic champion Scott Hamilton called him “one of the most important figures in our sport.”
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