As a Professional, Hamilton Still Making Points

As an amateur, Scott Hamilton just wanted to establish a role for men in figure skating, but found he had to keep winning to make his point.

As a pro, he’s still winning, and still making points.

“Skating is very much a female sport,” he said. “I want to break down some of those barriers. The direction I always took in skating was that I wanted to be for skating what Kurt Thomas was for gymnastics.”

That direction led him to an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and four national and world titles. Since turning professional, there have been more titles, most recently in December’s World Challenge of Champions in Paris and the World Professional Championships at Landover, Md.

“I wanted to introduce the men to the general audience as a very ballistic kind of performer. Lots of jumps, lots of spins,” said Hamilton, whose style mixes speed with triple jumps, back flips and enough grace to win the judges’ points.

“And the only way I could do that was to win. A lot.

“I never intended to win as many competitions as I did, but it just kind of happened. My style of skating and my direction of skating just happened to be right at the right time.”

Hamilton is currently on tour with fellow Olympic gold medalist Dorothy Hamill and former world pairs champions Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner in “Festival on Ice ’87.”

“Festival,” now in its third season, opened in Florida at the end of last year and continues through May. After a swing through Harrah’s Tahoe Hotel in January, the tour headed East to Chicago in February.

Because “Festival” is performed on stage-sized rinks instead of the competition surface Hamilton is used to, he had to improvise.

“It’s been a learning experience. I can see a lot of different things that can be done in this type of staging that can’t be done in an arena,” he said. “It’s an introduction to a style of skating and I’m glad I’m doing it now.”

What with competition numbers, “Festival” and his own tour, Hamilton has mastered 16 routines this year. “And I’ll do them all, at times, within a month,” he said.

As for his future, Hamilton said: “I’m trying a lot of different things this year, trying to figure out what is best for me. I’m an Olympic athlete and most of my ability to skate in front of people came from some of the notoriety I got from the Olympics.

“My main concern now is channeling any abilities I have into a direction that will not only be a challenge but will be unique from other skaters.”

He also admits that, at 28, he is aware his competitive edge won’t last forever.

“It frustrates me at times because there are so many things that I want to do, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do them,” he said.