HAMILL, DOROTHY

born July 26, 1956, Chicago, Ill., U.S. in full DOROTHY STUART HAMILL American figure skater who won the gold medal for women's figure skating in the 1976 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Hamill got her first ice skates at age 8, and at 14 she dropped out of school to pursue her skating career while being privately tutored. In the 1970s she lived and trained at Denver, Colorado, under the supervision of legendary skating coach Carlo Fassi. She won her first championship, the U.S. novice women's title, at age 12. The freestyle was her strong point in figure skating, and she won the free-skating competition in the 1975 world championship, although she finished second overall. After her Olympic victory, she turned professional and from 1977 skated with the Ice Capades. She is coauthor of Dorothy Hamill on and off the Ice (1983).