Olympic Gold Medalists to Skate as Pros at Forum

For two-time Olympic champion Dick Button, promoting professional figure skating competitions is a labor of love. How else could someone who has been involved in the sport for half a century sit at rinkside in the Forum one afternoon this week and call the waning moments of an ice dance practice session “thrilling?”

Involved in the organization of professional competitions of one sort or another for 20 years, Button’s next production will be tonight at 7:30 at the Forum.

The DuraSoft Challenge of Champions features all the gold medalists from the Winter Olympics in 1992 and all but the pairs champions in 1988. They will compete for $320,000 in prize money.

“We have an extremely brilliant group of people in all four events, the best in the world,” said Button, the 1948 and ’52 Olympic champion. “When I finished my amateur career, I didn’t have any place to go in figure skating except to a show. We’ve been able to provide professionals an opportunity to continue competing.”

Governing bodies such as the U.S. Figure Skating Assn., are offering professionals that opportunity by allowing them to regain eligibility for the national and world championships and the Olympics and by organizing pro-am competitions. But the USFSA has not sanctioned existing professional competitions, such as those organized by Button, because it wants to assure that uniformly high standards are maintained in the sport.

Considering the level of competition in the Challenge of Champions, that should not be a problem tonight. Brian Boitano is seeking his 11th consecutive title since turning professional after winning the Olympic men’s championship in 1988. Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic women’s champion, is making her second pro appearance after winning last Saturday at Landover, Md., in the World Professional Championships.