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,