The skating community Experience with enormous sorrow this week after 14 members of the community were tragically killed on Wednesday evening in a collision for planes in Washington DC.
Their loss only came twice a day Olympic gold medal winner dick, button, A pioneer in sport that would also get a legendary temporary employment career died at the age of 95.
File – Dick Button van Englewood, NJ, a North -American champion of the men’s skates and winner of the European title, performs a leap during a practice session in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on January 19, 1948, in preparation for the Winter Olympics of 1948. (AP photo, file)
“On this terrible, sad day for figure skating with the loss of young upcoming talent and their relatives and coaches in the plane crash, I am also deeply saddened with the loss of figure skating, my friend, Dick Button,” Brian Boitano, who won a gold medal In the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, wrote in a message on social media.
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“Rip, Dick Button,” said former American sports reporter Michele Tafoya in another post.
“I think you went to heaven on time to welcome the young skaters and coaches who died in Wednesday’s tragedy. May you all slide together under the stars.”
Everly and Alydia Livingston were killed in a plane crash between an American Airlines flight and an army helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on Wednesday 29 January 2025. All 67 people on board both aircraft are supposed to be dead. (Instagram/@Ice_skating_sisters)
A winner of two Olympic gold medals, five consecutive world championships, seven straight American titles and three consecutive North American titles, button was one of the most accomplished men’s artificial skaters.
He was the first to land a double axel and triple jump in competition, both leading to the victory at the Olympic Games. After his career ended in the skate, Button would enter the world of the broadcast and eventually earn the name ‘The Voice of Figure Skating’.
Button died on Thursday in North Salem, New York, his family confirmed on Thursday.
“American figure skating mourns for the loss of the legendary dick button,” the organization said in a statement. “The dual Olympic champion’s pioneering style and award -winning television commentary brought a revolution into figure skates. His estate will live on forever. We will extend our deepest participation to his family and loved ones.”
File – Dick Button, Van Englewood, NJ, the reigning figure skating champion of the world, is shown in Oslo to defend his Olympic title in the Winter Games. He leads a deer jumps on 12 February 1952 in Oslo, Norway. (AP images)
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Olympic gold medal winner Scott Hamilton spoke about the tragedy of Wednesday and loss of button, a good friend, in an appearance on Friday Friday.
Hamilton was in Wichita, Kansas, at the American figure skating championships and was familiar with some of the victims in Wednesday’s crash, including world champion couples skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
“It’s just more than everything I can handle,” said a tearing Hamilton about the losses.
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