People Magazine, April 7, 1997
Scott Hamilton knew something was wrong. Since February he had been experiencing sharp, shooting pains in his abdomen and lower back. Stress, he thought at first. Maybe an ulcer. But he didn't allow it to stop him from skating with the Discover Stars on Ice, a tour he cofounded, which features four-time world champion Kurt Browning and 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. "Scott's not one to put his problems on anyone else," says Yamaguchi. "He'd joke around about having indigestion, but during the last couple of shows he said it was getting worse."
Finally, after feeling excruciating pain after a March 15 show in East Lansing, Mich., Hamilton slipped away the next day to be examined by doctors at the St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill. A CAT scan showed that Hamilton, 38, had a tumor in his abdomen--news Hamilton kept to himself as he rejoined the tour in Peoria and skated that night. Further tests the next day at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation showed that Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist, was suffering from testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen. In the tightly knit world of skaters, the news was devastating, says ABC skating commentator Dick Button, a longtime friend of Hamilton's. "Scott is the symbol of eternal youth in skating. It comes as a real blow to realize that your symbol is under attack."
As Yamaguchi and her costars continued their tour, Hamilton stayed in Cleveland to prepare for chemotherapy. Not only was he upbeat, says Bob Kain, Hamilton's friend and representative at International Management Group, he even joked with the doctors who diagnosed his cancer. "Oh, is that all?" he cracked. "I thought it was going to be something serious." Says Kain: "They just looked at him and said, `No, this is serious.' And Scott said, 'Guys, I'm just kidding.' That's Scott's humor."
In fact testicular cancer, which strikes about 8,000 men in this country each year, is hardly a laughing matter. While Hamilton's chances for a full recovery are excellent--about 80 to 90 percent of patients are cured--he will have to be hospitalized for five days to undergo grueling chemotherapy sessions, followed by about four weeks off before his next sessions. If he responds positively to the treatments, which will last for three to four months, he will be able to avoid surgery to remove a testicle.
This is not the first time Hamilton has confronted adversity. Adopted as an infant by Ernie and Dorothy Hamilton of Bowling Green, Ohio, he suffered from a malabsorption syndrome that did not allow him to digest certain nutrients. His symptoms disappeared shortly after he took up skating at age 9, and Hamilton--who made up for his 5'3", 115-lb. build with uncommon energy and charisma--went on to win, starting in 1981, four consecutive national and world titles to go with his Olympic medal.
Not that there weren't setbacks along the way. His mother, a teacher, died of breast cancer in 1977. Hamilton also lost his close friend Sergei Grinkov, the Russian pairs skater felled by a heart attack at age 28. Typically, Hamilton was a source of strength for Grinkov's widow and partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva, as he has been for other skaters. "He's always been our big brother, someone to turn to," says Yamaguchi, who five years ago joined the tour that Hamilton kicked off in 1986. "But over the next three months, he'll need our support."
It didn't take long for Hamilton's costars to rally around him. The day after learning of his illness, they put off a trip to Rochester, N.Y., and rerouted their bus to Cleveland, where they poured into Hamilton's hotel for a three-hour lunch, at which he regaled them with hospital stories. "He was bummed out when this doctor wouldn't laugh at his jokes," says Browning, who felt reassured by Hamilton's cheerful mood. "When he pulls through this, it's going to be a big turning point in his life. And knowing Scott, he'll be even better for it."
--ALEX TRESNIOWSKI --LORENZO BENET in Los Angeles, BRYAN ALEXANDER in Lausanne, Switzerland, and GIOVANNA BREU in Chicago
Copyright 1997 Time Inc.
People, 04-07-1997, pp 103+.