Dorothy Hamill

White text and photograph of Dorothy Hamill on olive-green background. 

Dorothy Hamill is an American figure skating champion. At the age of 12, she won the novice ladies' title at the US Championships in 1969. She placed second at the junior level the following year, and began competing internationally in 1971, at 14 years old. Hamill held the the title of US Champion from 1974 to 1976, and won the gold medals at both the 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria and 1976 World Figure Skating Championships in Goteborg, Sweden. The media dubbed young Dorothy as "America's sweetheart" and her signature bobbed hairstyle and oversized eyeglasses started a trend in the 1970's. Hamill is also known for developing a new skating move, a camel spin that turns into a sit spin, which became known as the "Hamill camel". After turning professional, she was a headliner for the Ice Capades, a traveling figure skating show, from 1977 to 1984. Hamill is known as one of America's most popular athletes and has remained active in the figure skating world.