Dick Button

Although a leading advocate in popularizing figure skating, Button does not hesitate to critique trends that he thinks are harmful to the sport. Reviewing the competitive pressures that young figure skaters endure, Button is apprehensive at the toll such demands take on the young athletes' lives, particularly in terms of their schooling. "I have an interest in the sport, but I also have an interest in the people who do it," he explained in a 1998 interview with Mark Kram of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, "The problem is, the people who do it are just so overloaded." He added, "What it comes down to is that there is so much money to be made, it doesn't seem to matter if [the skaters] are educated or not." Button is also critical of the ISU's refusal to adopt fundamental reforms in the judging process, even after a scandal erupted at the 2002 Olympics over the initial second-place finish of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the pair's competition. Sale and Pelletier were later awarded a gold medal, but the ISU continued to drag its feet on reforming its practices.

A legend in his sport, Button continues to be one of the most influential persons in figure skating more than half a century after his Olympic triumphs. Not only has he educated the American public on the finer points of skating, he has also managed to popularize the sport as a mass-media spectator event. Although his appreciation for the sport is obvious, however, Button does not shy away from expressing his frank assessment over the sport's shortcomings. In doing so, he remains an influential, if sometimes contentious, authority in the world of figure skating.