Scott Hamilton - Leaping To Gold

The winter games in Lake Placid saw Hamilton finishing a respectable fifth in the men's individual division. Apparently the skater was just beginning to hit his stride, for following the Olympics Hamilton took fifteen consecutive titles. Though never the biggest man on the ice, Hamilton distinguished himself as one of the boldest, eschewing sequins and spins for utilitarian attire and athletic triple-jumps. "My size is perfect for skating," he said in a New York Times interview with Frank Litsky. "I have a lower center of balance. I don't have as much body to adjust when I make a mistake, and not as much body to get tired."

By 1984, Hamilton was considered the man to beat at the Olympic winter games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia: he had not lost a competition since September 1980, and his credits included four U.S. and world titles. He performed to expectation in the now-abandoned school-figures competition, but Hamilton's uncharacteristic shaky performance in the short program landed the skater in second place, behind Canada's Brian Orser, going into the freestyle long program. Quoted by Time reporter B. J. Phillips as saying he "wasn't into the ice" that day, Hamilton doubled two of his planned triple jumps. Despite the disappointing free skate, however, Hamilton had collected enough points in the school-figures and short programs to secure the gold medal and his place in sports history. As the Time article noted, Hamilton come to Sarajevo with a cold and an ear infection. "Though he refused to blame his curtailed performance on the illness, close observers noticed its effect." But, Phillips added, "nothing was wrong with his theatrical instincts." Hamilton provided an encore to the medals ceremony by skating a victory lap with the American flag held high.

Following Sarajevo Hamilton turned competitive professional, winning such contests as the Nutrasweet/NBC World Professional Figures Skating Championship. He also toured with the Ice Capades and formed the Scott Hamilton Amateur Tour before co-founding the Discover Stars on Ice touring company in 1986. For several years it seemed that no TV figure-skating show was complete without a turn by the gold medalist: A Very Special Christmas, An Olympic Calgary Christmas, Scott Hamilton's Celebration on Ice, A Salute to Dorothy Hamill, Vail Skating Special, A Disney Christmas on Ice, and Nancy Kerrigan & Friends are just a sample of his appearances. And when he wasn't skating, Hamilton was in the announcer's booth, providing expert analysis during televised competition.