Scott Hamilton is an American treasure. Yesterday's profile skater, the incredible, Kurt Browning of Canada, once called Scott the "Skate God for life." Scott, a 4-time national and world champion, and the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist, combines superb skating technique and endless charisma, warmth, personality, and humor on the ice. He has the rare ability to project his personality to the last row of seats in huge stadium arenas. Though Scott had an outstanding amateur career--he had an undefeated 15-competition winning streak from 1980-1984--he is perhaps best known for his prolific professional career. Not only is he the founder of Stars on Ice, one of the most popular skating tours in the country, Scott has performed so many memorable comedic and character-driven skating masterpieces, including, "Hair," "Cuban Pete," "In the Mood" and "Figaro" that skating fans will not soon forget. No matter what kind of mood you're in, Scott's larger-than-life personality, facial expressions, and choreography will make you laugh, smile-- usually both! Scott's versatility, audience appeal, and excellent skating skills is what afforded him one of the longest and most professional skating careers. He turned professional in the spring of 1984, after winning his 4th world title, and continued skating on tour until 2004. Scott still performs from time to time, but not as often now due to health reasons. In 1997, Scott endured a battle with testicular cancer. More recently, he had radiation to dissolve a benign brain tumor. Fortunately, he is healthy today and is the proud father of two little boys, Aiden and Max. Through all his health scares Scott has been nothing but optimistic and courageous. He used his misfortunes as a vehicle to motivate others not to take life for granted, and to remain positive and persistent in the battle against cancer. Scott is a phenomenal athlete, performer, commentator, man, and role model. What a guy!
Please enjoy one of Scott's most popular professional programs to "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. Scott used this program at the 1994 Gold Championship--a competition that put Olympic champions from three different Olympics against each other. Scott skated brilliantly in both segments and won the championship over Brian Boitano (gold in 1988 Olympics) and Victor Petrenko (gold in 1992 Olympics). Scott says it was one of the most significant victories in his entire career. I remember watching it on TV with my family. Scott was awesome and we went wild for his "Walk This Way" freeskate routine!! This particular recording of the program is not from that event, unfortunately, but it is the only video of this number that I could find! It's not the best recording, but you can still enjoy the purely-Scott style of skating! Enjoy the show! As commentator Verne Lundquist says at the beginning, "It's a Scott classic!" Merry Christmas!
"Walk This Way" by Aerosmith:
Now I want to see Torvill and Dean's follow-up to that!
ReplyDelete