Here’s a look at the life of Olympic and world champion figure skater Scott Hamilton.
Personal:
Birth date: August 28, 1958
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio
Birth name: Scott Scovell Hamilton
Father: Ernest Hamilton, college professor
Mother: Dorothy Hamilton, college professor
Marriage: Tracie (Robinson) Hamilton (December 14, 2002-present)
Children: Maxx Thomas, Aidan McIntosh, Jean Paul (adopted), Evelyne (adopted)
Other Facts:
Was adopted at six weeks old.
Has worked for both CBS and NBC as a figure skating commentator.
Hamilton and his wife adopted a brother and sister from Haiti a few years after the 2010 earthquake.
Timeline:
1960s – His growth slows dramatically at the age of 2 as his body struggles to digest food properly. His parents consult multiple doctors and try a variety of unsuccessful treatments over the course of several years. They allow him to begin ice-skating for exercise, and his condition finally begins to improve.
Early 1970s – Moves to Illinois and begins training with skating coach Pierre Brunet.
1976 – Wins the National Junior Championship.
1980 – Places third in the national competition and wins a place on the US Olympic team.
1981-1984 – Wins both the National Figure Skating Championship and the World Figure Skating Championship four consecutive years.
1984 – Wins the gold medal for men’s figure skating at the winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
1984-1986 – Skates in the “Ice Capades.”
1986 – Co-founds the ice skating touring production “Stars on Ice.”
1990 – Inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.
1997 – Is diagnosed with testicular cancer. Is treated and cured with chemotherapy and surgery.
1999 – “Landing It: My Life On and Off the Ice,” Hamilton’s autobiography, is released.
1999 – Partners with the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center to form the Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative, which promotes cancer education and research.
2001 – Retires from “Stars on Ice.”
2004 – Is diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Undergoes a procedure to shrink the tumor.
2009 – Hamilton’s book, “The Great Eight (How to Be Happy Even When You Have Every Reason to Be Miserable),” is released.
2009 – Appears on the NBC show “Celebrity Apprentice.”
November 2009 – After more than five years of not performing, Hamilton skates at a fundraiser for his charity CARES.
June 2010 – Undergoes surgery to remove the benign tumor in his brain.
April 10, 2014 – With the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, announces the formation of the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy at Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee.
October 18, 2015 – Performs with his son Maxx live in the Musselman’s Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute.
October 21, 2016 – People Magazine reports that Hamilton has been diagnosed with another benign brain tumor, his third since 2004.