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Figure skater Dorothy Hamill<\/strong> became a gold medalist during the 1976 Olympic Games.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe skate, I don\u2019t remember at all, so it\u2019s kind of fun sometimes to see the old-time video,\u201d Hamill said during a February 2026 appearance on the Today <\/i><\/a>show. \u201cStanding on the podium, [you have] all the thoughts that have ever gone through your mind. Every emotion of sadness, excitement [and] wondering what life will be like.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cIt\u2019s interesting to achieve a \u2018lifelong\u2019 goal at 19. I had no idea what would come after, but it was a great relief knowing I didn\u2019t have to go back to training.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamill took home the gold medal in women\u2019s figure skating during the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.<\/p>\n Keep scrolling to see what Hamill\u2019s life has been like since becoming an Olympic champion:<\/p>\n Dorothy Hamill retired from figure skating after winning big at the 1976 Olympics and that year\u2019s Worlds championship.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to get a job [afterward] because we were amateurs in those days,\u201d Hamill recalled on the Today <\/i>show in February 2026. \u201cWhen I turned pro, I had wonderful offers to do commercials and have television specials and skate in ice shows [and] doing interviews.\u201d<\/p>\n Dorothy Hamill announced in January 2008 that she was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI do have down days and down moments, and I try not to wallow in them. I allow myself some quiet time and some positive time just to recoup,\u201d Hamill told Coping <\/i><\/a>magazine in 2008 of her diagnosis and treatment. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to become an expert in when you only have two weeks before you have to go in for surgery, but if you communicate with your doctors, you can figure out a way to get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamill celebrated eight years of being cancer-free in 2016.<\/p>\nDorothy Hamill\u2019s Retirement<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n Dorothy Hamill skates at the 1976 Winter Olympics Games.<\/span> Tony Duffy\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDorothy Hamill\u2019s Cancer Battle<\/b><\/h2>\n
Trading Her Figure Skates for Ballroom Heels<\/b><\/h2>\n