Dorothy Hamill (1976 Gold Medalist)

Hamill was born in Chicago, but her family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut shortly after where she spent the rest of her childhood. She has a brother and a sister.
Hamill started ice skating when she was eight years old on her grandparent's backyard pond. Her skates were too big, so her grandmother would put stuffing in the toes to make them fit. She asked her mother if she could have lessons so she could learn to skate backwards. Her mother said yes. When she was 12, one morning Hamill couldn't wake her mother Carol for practice at 4:30 a.m. After awaking, Carol found her daughter walking alone in the cold to the rink, 10 miles away, with her skates slung over her shoulder.
Hamill was U.S. champion from 1974 through 1976. She is credited with developing a new skating move; a camel spin that turns into a sit spin, which became known as the "Hamill camel." The bobbed hairstyle that she wore during her Olympic performance started a fad. A Dorothy Hamill doll was made in 1977. She quickly became America's sweetheart....more Wikipedia data

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