Gold medal-winning skater, Hamill, being treated for breast cancer

BALTIMORE — Olympic gold medalist Dorothy Hamill is
undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Hamill said in a statement Friday that she is being treated at
the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. The prognosis is
favorable, but the 51-year-old Hamill said she will miss some of
the “Broadway on Ice” tour while she is having treatment.

Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano, one of Hamill’s good
friends, will fill in for her, beginning Saturday night in
Sarasota, Fla. Hamill said she hopes to rejoin the tour in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., where it has shows Jan. 16-17.

Then 19, Hamill became America’s sweetheart and a fashion icon
when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. Her bright smile
and bubbly personality made her a marketing dream — she was once
listed as the “Most Trusted Sports Figure in America” by Ladies
Home Journal — and her trademark wedge haircut sent girls across
the country flocking to the hairdresser.

Hamill is one of seven U.S. women to win the Olympic gold
medal. She also was a three-time U.S. champion and won the world title in
1976, and she has been inducted into both the U.S. and World Figure
Skating halls of fame.

Hamill turned professional after winning the 1976 world
championships. She joined the Ice Capades in 1977, and headlined
that tour for eight years.

Hamill isn’t the first Olympic champion to have cancer. Peggy
Fleming, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist who went to Colorado College, also had breast
cancer. She was diagnosed in 1998, but is cancer free and is an
advocate for research and awareness. Scott Hamilton, the 1984 men’s
champion, was treated for testicular cancer in 1997.