WHATEVER HAPPENED TO USA FIGURE SKATING STAR SCOTT HAMILTON?
By SANDRA MARDENFELD AND ELIZABETH MAXHAM
History - Science
Ice skating star Scott Hamilton won the U.S. and World Championships for four straight years (1981 - 1984) before getting the gold in Sarajevo during the 1984 Winter Olympics. Retiring from amateur skating afterwards, he started a career as a professional skater, appearing in the Ice Capades and creating Stars on Ice.
As a young man, Hamilton lost his mother to breast cancer, and as an adult, he battled testicular cancer and two brain tumors — in fact, a brain tumor in his youth, which was mistakenly diagnosed as cystic fibrosis, was responsible for his small frame. Hamilton once noted in a statement, “I have a unique hobby of collecting life-threatening illness [sic].”
After a lifetime of battling health scares, Hamilton has started several charitable and educational organizations, such as the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) and Chemocare.com. He also participates in fundraising events like An Evening with Scott Hamilton & Friends to foster treatment research.
Now settled in Tennessee, Hamilton has four children with his wife, Tracie, and runs the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy at the Ford Ice Centers in Antioch and Bellevue. Hamilton is also a vocal Republican, endorsing Mitt Romney in 2012, who had helped the 2002 Olympics stay on budget, and later praising Donald Trump, who once “fired” him on “Celebrity Apprentice.”