Dick Button, American Olympian
Richard Totten Dick Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure skater and skating television analyst. He is a two-time Olympic Champion (1948, 1952) and five-time World Champion (1948-1952). He is also the only non-European man to have become European Champion. He is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the double axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind, triple loop, in 1952. He also invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the Button camel. He suffered a serious head injury on July 5, 1978 when he was one of several men assaulted in Central Park by a gang of youths armed with baseball bats. In 2000, Button was skating at a public rink in New York State when he fell, fracturing his skull and causing a serious brain injury. He has since recovered, and now is a national spokesman for the Brain Injury Association of America
