Scott Hamilton Is Sharing Why He Is the ‘Luckiest Man Alive’ (Exclusive)

If Scott Hamilton were a gambler, he would never bet on himself.

“I am the most amazing person on the planet who has ever lived any of this,” he says. His list of accomplishments is remarkable: winning the first gold medal in men’s figure skating in 24 years at the 1984 Winter Games; launching the hugely successful Stars on Ice figure skating tour; surviving cancer and three benign tumors; founding a charity for the fight against cancer that has touched countless lives.

Then, of course, there’s falling in love with his wife, Tracie, and becoming a dad of four. He grinned. “Everything was kind of miraculous, really.”

Hamilton, 65, who this month celebrates the 40th anniversary of his gold medal-winning moment at the Olympics, is humble but unapologetic about the series of unfortunate events that have shaped his life’s path.

Adopted as a baby by Ernest and Dorothy Hamilton and raised in Bowling Green, Ohio, he suddenly stopped growing at the age of 4. The doctors could not understand why (years later Hamilton would find out that an undetected brain tumor was probably to blame), and the condition affected everyone.

“My parents were devastated, just emotionally drained, financially,” says Hamilton, who needed a feeding tube as a child to ensure he was getting enough nutrients. “The doctor told them they need a morning off once a week to rest and recharge their batteries.”

A new ice rink had just opened near their home, so Scott was signed up for his Saturday morning lessons. “It was so exciting,” says Hamilton. “Suddenly I wasn’t just this weird, sickly kid with a tube in his nose. I soon realized that I could skate as well as the best athlete in my class. It was the first taste of self-respect I ever had. Soon I wanted to be on the ice all the time.”

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Out of nowhere, he started growing again, but he wasn’t championship material yet. “I was like the last guy,” he says. But his mother, Dorothy, maintained unwavering faith in her son, telling neighbors: “One day we’ll go to the Olympics!” Hamilton recalls, “I would look at her and think, ‘On what basis? I’m not that good!’ ”

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And then in 1976, the family received devastating news: Dorothy had breast cancer. They were also out of money and could no longer finance his skating career. However, at Nationals, Dorothy told her son that she met a couple who would sponsor him so he wouldn’t have to drop out. It turned out to be the last competition Dorothy saw him skate in before her death in 1977.

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“She was the center of my universe. She meant everything to me – he says. “I took a walk the day she died and realized I had to pay her respects.” He started taking training seriously. The following year, he climbed to the podium at the National Championship, and took 11th place at the World Championship.

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From there, Hamilton’s career exploded. Still tiny at just 5’3″, he capped a four-year undefeated streak with his victory at the Sarajevo Olympics, where he gained world fame and became infamous for incorporating a backflip into his exhibition routines. “I remember it all so vividly ,” he says of his Olympic victory four decades ago. “It feels like it happened to someone else!”

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After the Olympics, he joined the Ice Capades for two years until the new owner decided he only wanted women in the show. So Hamilton helped launch a new ice skating tour: Stars on Ice. “We were like rock stars,” he says. “Selling out arenas across the country.” Since 1986, more than 1,500 performances have been performed on the tour.

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Scott Hamilton is held in the air by fellow skater Denis Petrov during a performance at the final event of Hamilton’s touring career during the Stars on Ice show at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Saturday, April 7, 2001.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo

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But during the 1997 tour, severe stomach pains landed Hamilton in hospital and he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The operation was successful, but his mental state was forever changed. “I realized that life is precious,” he says. “And I wanted to be an activist.”

class=”ql-align-justify”> Scott Hamilton’s incredible climbs and challenging falls, in photos

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He eventually started Scott Hamilton CARES, a non-profit focused on cancer research, and launched The 4th Angel, which matches newly diagnosed patients with survivors. “I wished I had someone who had been there, done that, who could talk to me about what to expect,” he says. “I wanted to change the experience of people with cancer.”

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Scott Hamilton in his Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer program to raise money for CARES.

Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation

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His life changed again when he met Tracie Robinson, now 54 years old, a nutritionist. Despite believing he would never be a family man, the two married in 2002 and soon had sons Aidan, 20, and Maxx, 16. “Before that, I wasn’t good at interpersonal relationships,” he says. “I was all about skating. Somehow I felt unworthy of love, as if I had nothing to offer to others.” But there was an undeniable spark with Robinson. “My heart skipped a beat. Something went wrong – he says.

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Tracie and Scott Hamilton in 2017.

Rick Diamond/Getty

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His wife also encouraged a deeper relationship with God: “When you skate in front of millions, you pray. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you pray. But when we started going to church together, that connected the dots for me. I knew that all the things that happened to me were not accidental.”

class=”ql-align-justify”> Scott Hamilton Sold Almost Everything in His Home — But Saved a Few Things for His Charity Auction (Exclusive)

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This included adopting siblings Jean Paul, now 22, and Evelyne, 20, who were orphaned after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as well as the discovery of two pituitary tumors in 2004 and 2010.

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Scott Hamilton, family portrait from December 2023; L – R: Jean Paul, Maxx, Tracie, Scott, Aidan, Evelyne.

Courtesy of Scott Hamilton

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Both brain tumors were benign and he recovered after treatment, but when he learned in 2016 that he had another benign brain tumor, he decided to leave it untreated. “I will wait and stay strong,” he says, adding that he will target radiation when necessary. “I’m perfectly fine not watching it again unless I become symptomatic.”

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Besides, he has an ace up his sleeve: the knowledge that difficult things have served him well. “I was unwanted as a baby, and I had great parents. I got sick and found skating. I lost my mother, and in her I found my identity,” he says. “Why should I ever look upon these hard times as anything but a time of strength? I am blessed beyond my wildest imagination.”

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Correction: PEOPLE’s print version of this story indicated that Hamilton’s brain tumors were cancerous. In fact, all three brain tumors were benign. Hamilton has only been diagnosed with cancer once, in 1997, when he had testicular cancer.

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