The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

New Jersey: Dick Button

Sport: Figure Skating

Olympics: St. Moritz 1948 and Oslo 1952

A pioneer in the world of men’s figure skating, Dick Button had an incredible career in the Olympics and otherwise. He competed starting at a very young age and had multiple titles under his belt before ever competing in the Olympic Games. Button trained in Lake Placid, New York and it paid off in the form of winning many amateur championships.

Button took home the gold in the U.S. Championships at the age of 16, earning a spot to compete in the 1947 World Championships. He took home the silver, having been defeated by rival skater Hans Gerschwiler. This represented the last time Button would not finish first in any competition he entered. Before the 1948 Olympics, Button competed in the European Championships where he took home the gold. He remains the only American to have won the event because they stopped allowing non-Europeans to compete the following year. The 1948 Games in St. Moritz witnessed Button become the first skater to ever land a double axel jump in competition. Button took home the gold that year and became only one of two male figure skaters to win the coveted Sullivan Award. This award goes to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.

In order to keep his skating career going, Button withdrew from Yale and attended Harvard where he graduated in 1952. During that same year, Button won his second gold medal when he became the first person to perform a triple jump in competition. After these Games, Button retired from competitive skating to focus on his law degree from Harvard, which he attained in 1956. Button was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976. He was a very popular commentator on subsequent Olympic broadcasts.

Honorable Mention: Henry Wittenberg, wrestling in London 1948 and Helsinki 1952