Editing Dick Button (section)

===Amateur===
{{for|jump abbreviations|Figure skating jumps}}

====Early competitions====
In his first competition, the 1943 Eastern States Novice Championship, Button finished second to [[Jean-Pierre Brunet]].<ref name=onskates /> In 1944, he won the Eastern States junior title which earned him the opportunity to compete at the National Novice Championships. He won the event. In 1945, his third year of serious skating, he won the Eastern States senior title and the national junior title.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}} He was also skating [[pair skating|pairs]], and competed with Barbara Jones in junior pairs at the 1946 Eastern States Championships. They performed Button's singles program side-by-side with minor modifications and won.<ref name=onskates /> This competition, where Button also competed as a single skater, led into the 1946 [[United States Figure Skating Championships|U.S. Championships]]. At age 16, Button won the 1946 U.S. Championships by a unanimous vote.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}} According to Button, this was the first time anyone had won the men's novice, junior, and senior titles in three consecutive years.<ref name=onskates /> Button went on to win six more national championships (1947–1951), tying the record set by [[Roger Turner (figure skater)|Roger Turner]], who won seven U.S. Nationals between 1928 and 1934.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}} This win earned Button a spot at the [[1947 World Figure Skating Championships|1947 World Championships]].

====1947 World Championships====
At the 1947 World Championships, Button was second behind rival [[Hans Gerschwiler]] following the [[compulsory figures]] part of the competition, with 34.9 points separating them.<ref name="onskates" /> He won the [[free skating]] portion, but Gerschwiler had the majority of first places from the judges, three to Button's two.<ref name=onskates />{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}} Button won the silver medal at his first World Championships. It was the last time he placed lower than first in competition. At the competition, Button was befriended by [[Ulrich Salchow]]. Salchow, who was disappointed when Button did not win, presented him with the first International Cup Salchow had won in 1901.<ref name=onskates /> Button later passed on this trophy to [[John Misha Petkevich]] following the [[1972 Winter Olympics|1972 Olympics]] and [[1972 World Figure Skating Championships|World Championships]].<ref name=Petkevich /> Acknowledging that Gerschwiler had a better understanding of outdoor ice, Button decided to spend some time training outdoors on the Lake Placid club tennis courts.<ref name=TUSA180205 />

====1948 European Championships====
Button faced Gerschwiler again at the [[1948 European Figure Skating Championships|1948 European Championships]]. Button led after figures in points, having 749 points to Gerschwiler's 747.8, but Gerschwiler led in placings, with 14 to Button's 15.<ref name=onskates /> During the free skating, Button performed his Olympic program for the first time. He won, with 11 placings to Gerschwiler's 18.<ref name=onskates /> Following this year, when North Americans took home the men's and ladies' titles, non-Europeans were no longer allowed to enter into the European Championships. Button is the only American to have won the European Championships.<ref name="onskates" />

====1948 Olympics====
At the [[Figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics|1948 Winter Olympics]], Button led Gerschwiler by a 29.6 point lead following the figures portion of the competition, having won four of the five figures.<ref name="onskates" /> Button had been attempting the double [[Axel jump]] in practice but had never landed it. In practice on the day before the free skating event, Button landed one in practice for the first time. He decided to put it into his free skating for the next day. Button landed it in competition,<ref name=2Axelvid /> becoming the first skater in the world to do so.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}} Button received eight firsts and two seconds, for a total of 10 places. Gerschwiler had 23.<ref name=onskates /> That combined with the figures results gave Button the gold medal.<ref name=SR /><ref name=SkatingM200901 /><ref name=Olybio /> At the age of 18 he became, and remains, the youngest man to win the Olympic gold in figure skating.<ref name=usoc />

====1948 World Championships====
Button went on to win the [[1948 World Figure Skating Championships|1948 World Championships]], where he faced Gerschwiler for the last time. Button won the event. At the time, the U.S. Championships were held after the World Championships, and Button finished his season by defending his national title. In February 1948, Button, his coach, and his mother were in [[Prague]] to perform an exhibition. They were stranded there after the [[Communism|Communist]] uprising and had to be extracted by the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].<ref name=onskates /> In 1949, Button won the [[James E. Sullivan Award|Sullivan Award]] as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. He is one of only two male figure skaters to win this award. [[Evan Lysacek]] is the other.<ref name="usoc" />

====College years====
Button had intended to attend [[Yale University]] beginning in the fall of 1947, but deferred a year due to the Olympics.<ref name="onskates" /> Although he had originally been assured that his skating would not be a problem as long as his grades were good, he was later informed that he could not continue competing if he wanted to attend Yale. On advice from people from the [[Skating Club of Boston]], Button applied to, and was accepted at, [[Harvard College]]. Button was a full-time student at Harvard while skating competitively and graduated in 1952 and was a member of The [[Delphic Club]], one of the University's select "[[Final Clubs]]".{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} He went on to win every international competition he entered for the next four years.{{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=48}}

As reigning and defending champion, as well as being the first skater to perform a double Axel and a flying camel, Button was under pressure to perform a new jump or spin every season. In 1949, he performed a 2Lo-2Lo combination. He was the winner of the [[James E. Sullivan Award]] as the top U.S. amateur athlete of 1949, becoming the first figure skater to win the award. In 1950, he performed the 2Lo-2Lo-2Lo. In 1951, he performed a 2A-2Lo combination and a 2A-2A sequence.<ref name="onskates" /> For the [[1952 Winter Olympics]], Button and Lussi began working on a triple jump. They settled on training the triple loop. Button landed it for the first time in practice in December 1951 at the Skating Club of Boston, and for the first time in exhibition in [[Vienna]] following the European Championships.<ref name="onskates" />

====1952 Olympics====
At the [[Figure skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics|1952 Winter Olympics]], Button had the lead after figures, with nine first places, over [[Helmut Seibt]].<ref name=SR /> Button's point total was 1,000.2 to Seibt's 957.7.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} During his free skate program, Button successfully landed the triple loop, becoming the first person to complete a triple jump in competition {{Sfn|Hines|2011|p=xxv}} He became the third male figure skater to win two Olympic gold medals after [[Gillis Grafström]] and [[Karl Schäfer (figure skater)|Karl Schäfer]]. He was the last man to defend his Olympic title in figure skating until [[Yuzuru Hanyu]] won his second Olympic gold in [[Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Men's singles|2018]]. He repeated as Gold medalist, then went on to defend his titles at the [[1952 World Figure Skating Championships]] and U.S. Championships.<ref name="onskates" />