Tale of Two Champions
Courage and resilience—and an intense love for the ice— unite an Olympic hopeful and a gold-medal pro.
On a crowded rink in New York City’s Central Park, triple-jumping dynamo Karen Chen, 18, is literally skating circles around veteran Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton. But during a quieter moment, the soft-spoken, unassuming teen is rapt with attention as the 59-yearold pro maps out a psychological game plan for her first Olympic games in South Korea.
“Think of it as an opportunity instead of an obligation,” he tells the skater who came in third at the U.S. championships, earning her an Olympic spot. “When you have an opportunity, your chin comes out a little bit. You can go out there and just skate for it and show everybody what you’re made of. It takes away all the nerves and the pressure. You’re prepared and you’re ready to take that thing and grab it.”
There’s a reason why the affable Hamilton has been an ambassador for the sport for nearly 40 years. He’s attended the games nine times, seven as a commentator and two as a competitor, winning the gold medal in 1984. (“It was my worst long program in three months,” he groans. He prefers to not watch that performance on YouTube, in which he apologizes to his coach after coming off the ice.)
After standing atop the podium in Sarajevo at age 25, he spent nearly two decades wowing crowds in showstopping Stars on Ice performances, thanks to his flair for rock music, theatrics and his signature move, the backflip—which he retired at age 51. Hamilton has also used his deep knowledge and unbridled enthusiasm to provide color in the broadcast booth. He’s called it all, including the epic Tonya Harding– Nancy Kerrigan showdown in 1994. The Nashville-area resident and married dad of four will be on hand in Pyeongchang for NBC. “It’s like, ‘Holy cow, I still get to do this!’ ”
His eternally positive attitude has carried him through darker moments away from the rink. In 1997, two years before Chen was born,
Hamilton was successfully treated for testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen. He was diagnosed with benign brain tumors in 2004, 2010 and 2016, with treatment sometimes involving intricate surgery. Asked how he’s feeling today, he quips, “Older—I’ve never been this old before, so I have nothing to compare it to!” He likens his health battles to an anecdote in the Malcolm Gladwell book David and Goliath.
“When Britain kept getting bombed during World War II, they didn’t surrender. They only became more emboldened. I can relate to that. I can survive life-threatening illnesses and know that I won’t be debilitated.”
Early to Rise
Despite the contrast in age and personalities, both stars say their lives fell into place once they discovered ice skating. Chen, a first-generation Taiwanese-American from Fremont, Calif., found her passion at age 6. “I was a shy kid and it was hard for me to venture out,” she says. “Once I laced up my skates and got out on the ice, I wasn’t shy anymore. Sure, I fell down. But I didn’t care what other people thought about me. I just got back up. I realized then that this was something I loved doing.”
Though she used to set her alarm for 4 a.m. for morning practices before school, “I was never exhausted, because I enjoyed skating so much.” (She’s now home-schooled.) By age 11, she could cleanly land triple jumps and the forward-pushing double axel. A year later, she won in the novice division. “It never hit me, like, ‘Oh, I’m really good at this! I’m amazing!’ ” she says. “As I worked, I just gradually got better.”
Hamilton spent his Ohio childhood in and out of hospitals due to a mysterious illness that stunted his growth (he’s 5 feet 3 inches). Once he started skating at age 9, his health began to improve. It took another few years until his talent matched his drive. “Oh, I was terrible!” he says. Every day at 6:45 a.m., he put on special soft-leather skates and spent six hours mastering the art of tracing figure eights on the ice, singing Kool and the Gang’s “Get Down on It” to get pumped.
“I learned through endless failure. I figured that I had nothing to lose because I was dead last all the time. Once you feel failure, it’s not a stranger anymore. That’s given me the ability to be resilient under really difficult circumstances.”
Chen’s lowest point came a few years ago when she suddenly felt throbbing pain in