Thursday, May 15, 2008

Pic of the Week: American Legends

I took an extra day to really reflect on this final installment of American Legends. Scott Hamilton is easily the most recognizeable name in American Figure Skating History. If you ask anyone on the streets to say the first thing that comes to their mind when you say "figure skating" and I bet the majority would say "Scott Hamilton."

Four times a national and world champion, Scott's crowning achievement comes at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo where he won Olympic Gold.

But Scott's popularity only grew with his professional career. He created Stars on Ice and became americas favorite skater! He's done more television shows, tours, professional competitions than can be realistically numbered!

In 1997, Scott Hamilton was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. He underwent successful treatment and made a much heralded return to skating. In 2004, he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor which was treated at the Cleveland Clinic.

Today, Scott is still an active member of the figure skating community as a skating commentator for NBC Sports, most recently calling the 2008 U.S. Nationals. Scott also devotes a lot of his time raising awareness for The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Institute. Scott truly personifies what it is to be an American Legend!



3 comments:

Ice Mom said...

What a great post. Who doesn't love and admire Scott Hamilton? That first photo of him is terrific. It's tough to get a portrait of someone that tells the person's character, but whoever took that shot did it in a fabulous, minimalistic way.

Laura said...

Nice tribute!

Aaron said...

Thanks. I think Scott Hamilton is just the best. What better ambassador for the sport of figure skating could we possibly ask for!