Scott Hamilton (figure skater)

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox figure skater

Scott Scovell Hamilton (born August 28, 1958) is a retired American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. He won a gold medal in the 1984 Winter Olympics, four consecutive World Championships (1981–84) and four consecutive U.S. championships (1981–84). His signature move, the backflip, a feat few other figure skaters could perform at the time, is against U.S. Figure Skating and Olympic competition rules. Yet, he would include it in his exhibition routines as an amateur to please the crowd. Later, he also used the backflip in his professional competition routines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=backflip_banned>Template:Cite web</ref> He is widely recognized for his innovative footwork sequences.<ref name=Shulman2002>Template:Cite book</ref> In retirement, he has been involved in charitable work and is the author of three books.

Early life and education

Hamilton was born on August 28, 1958, in Bowling Green, Ohio.<ref name=Britannica>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> He was adopted at the age of six weeks by Dorothy (née McIntosh), a professor, and Ernest S. Hamilton, a professor of biology,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and raised in Bowling Green, Ohio. He has two siblings, older sister Susan (his parents' biological daughter) and younger brother Steven (who was also adopted).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He attended Kenwood Elementary School. When Hamilton was two years old, he contracted a mysterious illness that caused him to stop growing. After numerous tests and several wrong diagnoses (including a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis that gave him just six months to live), the disease began to correct itself. His family physician sent him to Boston Children's Hospital to see Dr. Shwachman. He was told the doctor had no idea what was wrong and to go home and stop the diets in order to live a normal life. Years later, it was determined that a congenital brain tumor was the root cause of his childhood illness.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the peak of his amateur career Hamilton weighed Template:Convert and was Template:Convert tall,<ref name=Britannica/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but eventually grew to a height of Template:Convert.<ref>iTunes Otter Creek Church podcast July 22, 2012 Can I Get a Witness?: The Things That Ruin - Joshua Graves and Scott Hamilton and Tracie Hamilton. Scott, "Wikipedia doesn't always get it right. I'm 5'4"." https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/otter-creek-church/id175107775</ref>

At age 13, Hamilton began training with Pierre Brunet, a former Olympic champion. In 1976, however, he was almost forced to quit skating because the cost of training was too high and he enrolled in college. However, Helen and Frank McLoraine stepped in to provide financial support for Hamilton to continue his training. Hamilton would later work with the McLoraines in continuing philanthropic support for figure skating. Hamilton attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The former First Street in Bowling Green was named Scott Hamilton Avenue in his honor.

Skating career

File:Scott-Hamilton-Stars-on-Ice.jpg
Hamilton's final performance on the Stars on Ice tour

In 1980, Hamilton finished third in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, earning him a place on the U.S. Olympic team. At this time, Don Laws was coaching him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He finished in fifth place at the 1980 Winter Olympics, where he also had the honor of carrying the American flag in the opening ceremony. His breakthrough performance was in the 1981 U.S. Championships. He performed flawlessly and the audience began a standing ovation several seconds before the end of the performance. He never lost an amateur competition again. In 1981 he won gold in the World Figure Skating Championships.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the long program, he received scores of 5.8s and 5.9s for technical merit and 5.7s at 5.9s for artistic impression out of a perfect score of 6.0. He started the long program off with a triple Lutz jump, his most consistent and hardest jump.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He performed a strong program in spite of a minor flub. He won gold again in 1982 and 1983 at the U.S. and World Championships.

At the 1984 Olympics,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he won the compulsory figures and placed second in the short program. For the long program, he planned five jumps: a triple Lutz, a triple flip, a triple toe loop in combination with a double loop, a triple toe walley and a triple Salchow. He completed only three of them, missing the triple flip and the triple Salchow.<ref name=":0" /> For technical merit, the nine judges gave him three 5.6's, two 5.7's, three 5.8's and a 5.9. For artistic impression, he received four 5.8's and five 5.9's. Brian Orser won the long program and Hamilton was second, but Hamilton won the gold medal because Orser was too far back in the overall standings to catch Hamilton after placing 7th in the compulsory figures, which at the time accounted for 30% of the total score. Hamilton's victory ended a 24-year gold medal drought for US men in Olympic figure skating.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He did not attempt the triple Axel jump, a more difficult jump which other skaters in the competition landed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He won that year's World Championships and then turned professional in April 1984.

File:Scott-Hamilton-Golf.jpg
Hamilton performs during a Stars on Ice show

Figure skating writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, in her critique of male figure skating, called the costumes Hamilton wore during the 1984 Olympics an attempt to mitigate the "erotic affect"<ref name="kestnbaum-186">Template:Cite book</ref> of the one-piece, Disco-influenced outfits popular with many male skaters at the time. She described Hamilton's costumes as "simple stretch suits in one color ornamated only by a simple geometic shape in a contasting color", which resembled a warm-up or speed skating suit that emphasized the "acceptable male sport aspect" of figure skating.<ref name="kestnbaum-186"/>

After turning professional, Hamilton toured with the Ice Capades for two years, and then created "Scott Hamilton's American Tour," which later was renamed Stars on Ice. He co-founded, co-produced and performed in Stars on Ice for 15 years before retiring from the tour in 2001 (though he still returns for occasional guest performances).

As a professional, Hamilton often performed his signature backflip, a movement that, until 2024, was sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), the organization that governs figure skating.<ref name=Reuters2025-backflip>Template:Cite news</ref> Kestnbaum states that it was "an acknowledgement of the illegality of the move" to the ISU.<ref>Kestnbaum, p. 194</ref>

He has been awarded numerous skating honors, including being the first solo male figure skater to be awarded the Jacques Favart Award (in 1988). In 1990 he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Career in media

Broadcasting career

Hamilton was a skating commentator for CBS television for many years, beginning in 1985. He has also worked for NBC television. In 2006 he was the host of the FOX television program Skating with Celebrities. He currently serves on the board of directors for Special Olympics International.

Television appearances

Hamilton voiced the dog dancing commentator on the King of the Hill episode "Dances with Dogs".Template:Citation needed He was also seen in the 2008 The Fairly OddParents episode "The Fairy Oddlympics" as Timmy Turner's co-host.Template:Citation needed

He appeared on the August 26, 2008 episode of Wanna Bet?, where he finished 2nd, losing to Bill Engvall. In 2009, he appeared in the second season of Celebrity Apprentice.<ref>Trump Rounds Up Celebs for New Season of the Apprentice NY Times, January 8, 2009</ref>

He made a small appearance on Roseanne as himself, participating in a mock linoleum skating competition credit sequence.Template:Citation needed He also made a brief appearance in the film Blades of Glory.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On March 8, 2010, Scott Hamilton: Return to the Ice premiered on the Bio Channel. The two-hour television special chronicled Hamilton's return to skating after battling cancer.<ref name="tvbythenumbers">Template:Cite news</ref>

Book authorship

In 1999, Hamilton wrote the book Landing It, in which he talks about his life on & off the ice. In 2009, Hamilton wrote the book The Great Eight, which shared the secrets to his happiness and how he overcame numerous challenges and disappointments throughout his life.Template:Citation needed In 2018, he wrote the book Finish First: Winning Changes Everything (publisher: Thomas Nelson), about the value of competition.Template:Citation needed

Personal life

Family

On November 14, 2002 he married Tracie Robinson, a nutritionist. The couple welcomed their first son in 2003 and a second son in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later in 2013, the couple adopted two orphaned siblings from Haiti.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The family resides in Franklin, Tennessee.<ref name=NashvilleScene>Template:Cite web</ref>

Faith

Hamilton is a Christian and has said about his faith, "I understand that through a strong relationship with Jesus you can endure anything... God is there to guide you through the tough spots. God was there every single time, every single time."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Illnesses

In 1997, Hamilton had a much-publicized battle with testicular cancer.<ref name=WebMD>Template:Cite web</ref> Hamilton was initially concerned that he may have been rendered infertile following his cancer treatment, but later went on to father two children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He made a return to skating after his treatment and his story was featured in magazines and on television.<ref name=NYT1997>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LATimes1998>Template:Cite news</ref> It was announced on November 12, 2004, that Hamilton had a benign brain tumor, which was treated at the Cleveland Clinic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On June 23, 2010, Hamilton had brain surgery to prevent the recurrence of the benign tumor discovered in 2004. Called craniopharyngioma, the tumor could have caused blindness if left untreated. The surgery was successful.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2010, Hamilton was in the hospital again. During the removal of the tumor, an artery in the brain was "nicked". The bleeding stopped, but an aneurysm formed days later. Hamilton came through the surgery well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2016, Hamilton announced that he had received his third brain tumor diagnosis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In late March 2017, he stated that the tumor had shrunk without chemo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Charitable work

In 1990, as the Make-A-Wish Foundation honored its 10th birthday, Hamilton was recognized as the Foundation's first ever "Celebrity Wish Granter of the Year."<ref name=Greer2012>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Newspaper>Template:Cite news</ref>

He founded the Scott Hamilton Cares Foundation to assist with cancer patient support.<ref name=ESPN2000>Template:Cite news</ref> He has been a longtime volunteer with the Special Olympics and currently serves as a Special Olympics Global Ambassador.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hamilton has also helped benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, of which he is an honorary board member.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and recognition

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
1983–1984

Competition results

International
Event Template:Tooltip 77–78 78–79 79–80 80–81 81–82 82–83 83–84
Winter Olympics 5th 1st
World Champ. 11th 5th 1st 1st 1st 1st
Skate America 1st 1st 1st
Skate Canada 1st
NHK Trophy 4th 1st
Nebelhorn Trophy 2nd
National
U.S. Champ. 3rd 4th 3rd 1st 1st 1st 1st

References

Template:Reflist<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

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