1952 Olympics - Dick Button, Men's Champion | Golden Skate

1952 Olympics - Dick Button, Men's Champion

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
SkateFan4Life said:
Here's a link to the IOC's write-up on the 1952 Winter Olympics, held in Oslo, with some terrific photographs of 22-year-old Dick Button of the USA winning his second Olympic gold medal. Great skating, Dick! He became the first skater to ever land a triple jump in Olympic competition - the triple loop. :clap: :clap:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/heroes/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=70096

He looked handsome
 

Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Love the older pictures...

...back when the competitions were held outdoors. Bet those were very cold days for the judges!!

As much as we often tease Dick as a commentator (well, I do anyway!) he really has made contributions to the sport both on and off the ice.

DG
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I will always love Uncle Dick. I wonder when the first indoor rink competition was held.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Many, many male figure skaters have since astounded us with their technical prowess, but first and foremost there was Dick. Like Sonia slightly before him, they made figure skating a very popular sport.

Joe
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Doggygirl said:
...back when the competitions were held outdoors. Bet those were very cold days for the judges!!

As much as we often tease Dick as a commentator (well, I do anyway!) he really has made contributions to the sport both on and off the ice.

DG

I remember Dick joking with Peggy Fleming back in 1997 about being at the first outdoor world championships.

(During Yulia Lavrenchuk's Macarena free skate)
Terry: And there was a day when these championships were held outside...
Peggy: Right. I was at the last. 1968.
Dick: I was at the first.
Peggy: We're a study in contrast here...
 

icer

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
I believe they had indoor skating in the 1908 Olympics in London. Before there were "winter" Olympics. Competition was held in April, earlier than the other events.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Dick Button won seven United States Champions, five World championships, and the Olympic gold medal in 1948 and 1952. Back in those days, non-Europeans were allowed to compete at Europeans, and Dick even won one European title. After his victory, the rules were changed so that only skaters living in and/or representing European countries could compete. Sounds logical to me, actually.

Button was the master technician, a great jumper, and he took the sport to a new level with his double axels and triple loops, something that nobody else landed up until his time.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Dick Button has said that he absolutely LOVED to skate and compete outdoors.
The crisp, cold air, the beautiful scenery, and the hard, thick ice, etc. -- all of which "made my spirit sing".

Go, Dick!! :clap:
 
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