Photographed at Ford Ice Center
Scott Hamilton hasn't performed his famous backflip since 2010.
The 1984 Olympic figure skating gold medalist says he's unlikely to perform his signature move ever again. But don't count him out — he's been defying the odds his whole life.
Perhaps the most famous and beloved American male figure skater of all time, Hamilton, who now makes his home in Franklin with his wife Tracie and their children, started skating when he was 9.
"I wasn't very good for a long time. ... At the national level, I was a disaster," he says. And that's not false modesty.
After finishing ninth in consecutive years at the novice level, he moved up to juniors and finished seventh. But Hamilton decided to give it one more year his senior year of high school and "freakishly" won the nationals. "Things started happening. The light got brighter and I started learning things. I started landing triples."
Just as Hamilton was moving up to the senior level, though, his mother was diagnosed with cancer.
"I was never going to be less than what she thought I could be again," he says. Then Hamilton rattled off one of the most impressive career runs in American figure skating history. He qualified for the Olympics in 1980 by finishing third in the nationals, then he won four straight American titles. In the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, he won gold. Between 1981 and his retirement after the '84 World Championships, Hamilton never lost.
He turned pro and joined the Ice Capades (his only "real job" at that point had been delivering pizza), but the famous show changed directions — the promoter said he didn't want any male stars. So Hamilton started his own skating tour, "Stars on Ice," and toured for 15 years.
In 1997, he found himself in a lot of pain. He suspected an ulcer; it was testicular cancer. His diagnosis came 20 years, nearly to the day, after his mother's death. Six-and-a-half months later, after four months of chemotherapy and a 38-staple surgery, Hamilton was back on the ice, and he's been as much a champion for cancer patients as he was in ice skating ever since. "When I lost my mom, I became a fundraiser. When I survived, I became an activist," he says.
The Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic, launched a website, Chemocare, which explains treatment without using "six- and 12-syllable words." "Among newly diagnosed cancer patients, 30 percent said their greatest fear is death," Hamilton says. "Forty-two percent said their greatest fear is treatment. The fear and shock is overwhelming, it blindsides you. ... But that fear is instantly replaced by courage and clarity of purpose. You become bold.
"I would never wish cancer on anyone," he continues. "But if you've never had that experience, you don't know what you're capable of."
Another Hamilton initiative connects newly diagnosed patients with mentors who have survived. "When you're going through treatment, you have three angels: your oncologist, your oncology nurse and your friends and family," he says. "The fourth angel is someone who's been there and done that."
The CARES Foundation also funds research with the ultimate goal of finding immunotherapy solutions that would essentially make cancer chronic, and it's pushing for expanded use of proton-beam therapy, which is similar to standard radiation treatment, except that it focuses on the tumor with far less radiation passing through healthy cells. There are hurdles — pushback from insurance companies, hospitals and recalcitrant doctors — but there's already been success. Tennessee will become the first state with three facilities offering the treatment once a new open-access clinic opens in Franklin, joining existing facilities in Knoxville and Memphis.
In addition to all that, Hamilton (who must rarely sleep) lent his name and expertise to a skating academy at the Ford Ice Center in Hickory Hollow, which, in less than 18 months, has taught more than 850 people, ranging in age from 2 to 79, how to skate — and many of those folks said they wanted to eventually figure skate. Hamilton holds out hope that his adopted hometown could someday produce top-level competitors in his sport.
Don't rule anything out — not even another back flip — when it comes to the champ.
More From the 2016 People Issue
The Celebrity Chef: Maneet Chauhan / The Gold Medalist: Scott Hamilton / The Perception Changer: Kent Wallace / The Blogger: Melissa Watkins / The Biker Chaplain: Allen Tanner / The Man: Charles Kaster / The Islamic Leader: Rashed Fakhruddin / The Tubatroll: Joe Hunter / The Dog: Doug the Pug / The Emancipator Impersonator: Dennis Boggs / The Booker: Kathryn Edwards / The Right Brain/Left Brain: Coke Sams and Clarke Gallivan / The Professional Ass-Kicker: Eric Young / The Watcher: Debbie Field
