Richard Totten Button (July 18, 1929 – January 30, 2025) was an American figure skater and skating analyst.

[1] He "brought increased athleticism" to figure skating in the years following World War II.

[8][9] In his first competition, the 1943 Eastern States Novice Championship, Button finished second to Jean-Pierre Brunet.

[1] In 1944, he won the Eastern States junior title which earned him the opportunity to compete at the National Novice Championships.

[3] According to Button, this was the first time anyone had won the men's novice, junior, and senior titles in three consecutive years.

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.

[1] He won the free skating portion, but Gerschwiler had the majority of first places from the judges, three to Button's two.

[1] Button later passed on this trophy to John Misha Petkevich following the 1972 Olympics and World Championships.

[1] 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.

[1] In 1949, Button won the Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

[15] Button had intended to attend Yale University beginning in the fall of 1947, but deferred a year due to the Olympics.

[1] 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.

[citation needed] During his free skate program, Button successfully landed the triple loop, becoming the first person to complete a triple jump in competition [16] He became the third male figure skater to win two Olympic gold medals after Gillis Grafström and Karl Schäfer.

Because of the time commitments, Button retired from amateur skating that year to focus on law school.

[citation needed] As founder of Candid Productions, he created a variety of made-for-television sports events, including the World Professional Figure Skating Championships, Challenge of Champions, and Dorothy Hamill specials for HBO.

[17] As an actor, Button performed in such films as The Young Doctors and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan starring Tony Curtis.

[citation needed] Figure skating historian James R. Hines said that it was in roles other than as a skater in which Button has had the greatest influence on the sport.

During ABC's coverage of figure skating events in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Button became the sport's best-known analyst, well known for his frank and often caustic appraisal of skaters' performances.

In 1975, Button married figure skating coach Slavka Kohout; a son Edward and a daughter Emily were born to the couple, who later divorced.

[24][9] Button suffered a serious head injury on July 5, 1978,[25] when he was one of several men assaulted in Central Park by a gang of youths armed with baseball bats.

"[27] On December 31, 2000, Button was skating at a public rink in Westchester County, New York, when he fell, fracturing his skull and causing a serious brain injury.

[28][19] He recovered and became a national spokesman for the Brain Injury Association of America[29] as well as continuing his Emmy Award–winning commentary on broadcasts of the Olympic Games and on various figure-skating television shows.