An Olympic Champion’s Journey to Real Life and Meaning (Part 1 of 2)

I was sick, I didn't grow, I was the smallest and the weakest, I was this, I was that, I was a loser, I'd fallen all these times, I'd embarrassed myself. Just all the bad things that happened, but what I started to figure out was that every single one of those failures was a spectacular learning opportunity. Well, quite the perspective from former Olympic champion figure skater Scott Hamilton as he describes his many years of discouragement before winning a gold medal. And that's a reminder that in our own disappointments and failures, we shouldn't give up, we never give up.

We can learn and grow in those dark times. This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Thanks for joining us, I'm John Fuller. John, we spent some time with Scott Hamilton and learned a lot about his life. I didn't know, I thought I knew, but I did not know as much as he expressed in our taping together. And one of the significant things we learned was that his gold medal didn't satisfy him. You know, the Scripture talks about that, but it didn't meet the need deep in his heart.

And he still had an empty spot that only God could fill. Man, do we hear that story over and over again, and we're going to unfold his story and God's involvement throughout his life as we talk with him today. There are so many twists and turns in his experiences.

I think you're going to relate to so much of it, and especially the behind the scenes stuff that Scott revealed to us. Yeah, there was a lot of overcoming, and what a great conversation with him in front of some Focus friends. Even though Scott participated in the Winter Games, of course, as a figure skater, the Summer Games are getting underway, and we decided this would be a good time to feature this conversation.

And Scott Hamilton is in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. His story is captured in his book called Finish First. Ask for that when you contact Focus on the Family.

The details are in the program notes. Let's go ahead and hear that great conversation we had with Scott Hamilton on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Scott, welcome to Focus on the Family.

Woo! This is unbelievable. I listen to you guys all the time, and it's just being in your presence right now. It's so surreal. It's wild because, again, I listen to you guys every morning, and then to be sitting here with you, I don't know what to do now. Well, that's very kind. Thank you so much. Let's go back because I think your story, your life story, is incredible.

It's, in my mind, bigger than a gold medal. Sorry. Oh, thank you. But it started with a lot of adversity. Yeah. So describe, I mean, you were adopted. Yeah, I was an oops. I was unintended. You know, it's always that thing with adoption, right? There's always that kind of little bit of a disconnect of was I, I know I was unintended, but was I unwanted? And it's really remarkable that now, all these 65 years later, you know, over the years, I really understood that God is in control, and he chose those parents for me.

He convicted my birth mother to stay the course and to bring me into the world and to put me up for adoption. And she was brave and wonderful and awesome, and I'm going to be grateful for her bravery and generosity forever. And then I was adopted by two school teachers from Northwestern Ohio, and they were the perfect parents for me.

That's amazing. Perfect parents. So, I mean, when you answer that question about being wanted, being adopted is being wanted.

It is being wanted. That's what's terrific. Well, it's funny because, you know, when I got teased about being adopted, and I was, whenever I do any of my speaking, it's a joke, I always tell, but it was true. When the kids, because it was unusual in my hometown to be adopted, I'd get teased about being adopted, right? They'd come up and say, you were adopted. And then, and then, and just all this. But they're not talking now. No, it's different now. But then it was like, my parents always told me from as young as I could understand that I was adopted.

They didn't want it to be stigmatized or anything. They wanted it to be part of my story. And so I came home one day and I was like, mom, they're teasing me about being adopted. And she, my mom was at the center of my universe.

I love my mom so much. She goes, don't worry about them. Just say this next time. I go, okay. So sure enough, you know, on the playground at school, and they start teasing me about being adopted.

And I go, yeah, okay. Yeah, I was adopted. My parents actually chose me. Your parents got stuck with whatever came out. That's pretty good.

It was strong. And so they didn't tease me about being adopted anymore because they realized their parents were stuck with whatever came out. All right, moving in your childhood, there were many things that you had to struggle with. Describe some of those challenges you had growing up physically. Yeah, so I was always the smallest kid in my class.

I was, you know, I always felt a little different, you know, the shortest. And then pretty soon it became apparent that I wasn't growing or developing properly. And so we started visiting physicians and hospitals. And it became this four-year journey. And we went to the biggest hospital with the biggest doctors, and that was Boston Children's Hospital. And there I had every symptom of a disease called Schwachman-Diamond syndrome. It's kind of a celiac disease.

And so Dr. Schwachman himself was looking after me. So this is it. We're going to, you know, they'd taken me off dairy and sugar and flour. So, you know, I'm like four or five, six, seven, eight years old. My birthday parties were awful because I couldn't touch it. Here's your slice of cantaloupe. Exactly.

So we were there for a long time. And at the end of it, he just said, I can't figure this thing out. He doesn't have Schwachman-Diamond syndrome. He's not growing.

He's not developing. There's something going on. We don't have the capacity to diagnose it, go home, live a normal life and just see what happens. And so we went home, and he was just hoping and praying that I would maybe outgrow this thing or I'd rise above it. And my parents at that point were shattered physically, emotionally, financially. I mean, they adopted this little boy, and they're on teacher salaries, and I'm in hospitals for four years. And so they were devastated in every way possible. And they couldn't solve my problem, which I think for any parent is that helplessness is just toxic. It's awful.

So our family physician came and had a one-man intervention, and he said, you need a morning off to recharge your batteries. There's a brand-new facility at Bowling Green State University where they teach children how to ice skate from 8 in the morning until noon. It's a great environment. There's hundreds of kids. It's awesome. And my kids do it. We're happy to take it.

I mean, you guys can just rest, restore, you know, just return. This was your family physician? Yeah. Wow. He lived three doors down. Wow.

Spent a lot of time with him. That was the question. How'd you get into ice skating? I figured they were going, OK, it's not going to be football. It's not going to be basketball. Basketball. No. So let's try skating. Let's try skating. But it was your doctor.

Yeah. So I got on the ice, and I was like everybody else. I was clinging onto the wall and trying to figure it out. But I was around all these well kids, and I was really excited to be in.

I was really used to being with sick kids, but I was trying to figure it out. And so I'm being on the ice with all these kids, and I realized after, I guess, a couple weeks that I could skate as well as well kids. And then after a few more weeks, I realized that I could skate as well as the best athletes of my grade. And for the first time in my life, I tasted self-esteem.

Wow. I felt like I wasn't the-est, the worst, or the weakest, or the smallest, or the least. I felt like I have an identity in this.

I can actually do this, and I like it, and I'm good at it. And so I became a rink rat. I was there all the time.

My parents had to threaten me to get me off the ice. How old are you at this point? I was nine. Yeah. Wow. To keep moving on that, so you were accelerating as a teen. Yeah.

13, 14. Yeah. But I was kind of like, here's the deal. I was kind of good regionally, tri-state area. Not a lot of boys in figure skating. Nationally, by the time I finally made it to the nationals on the little boys level, I was awful. Now- Sounds inspiring.

It's very inspiring. No, it was like, I don't know who scheduled that event. To this day, I want to slap them, in a place where they'd feel it. But it was like, they scheduled the little boys novice event, preceding the championship ladies final, where Janet Lynn, the most popular woman athlete in the world at that time, was competing in her last nationals. So standing room only, 17,500 people. I'd never seen that many people in my life, ever. And I was ill-prepared, and I didn't know how to do it. So in my three-minute program, I rose to the occasion, five times. I fell five times in a three-minute program. And let me tell you, falling five times in a five-minute program is a lot of work.

To do it in three minutes had to be a record. And all I could hear was, oh, the audience. And then finally, the fourth fall, it's like, oh. And then the fifth fall, it's like, come on, you can do it.

You can hear the end of your music. And it was humiliating. And it was just like, I'm a loser. I'm last place guy. And then we decided to go up to the junior level, because what's the worst thing that can happen? Last place?

I own last place. And I made it to the Nationals that year, and I beat two guys. And they were really embarrassed. Like, can you imagine?

It's like, wait a minute. Hamilton beat you? Oh, dude, that's rough. Oh, man, are you going to keep skating?

It's kind of that, right? Because I was the last place guy. And so it was after that year, I trained in Illinois. I come home. And my mom, I came home from school. And she came in, and she goes, OK, everybody, family meeting. And she had this big smile on her face. And I was like, oh.

And she goes, OK, OK, all right. I've just come from the doctor. And I've just been diagnosed with a disease called cancer.

And I'm going to have to have some medicine that may not make me feel. And she was so upbeat. And cancer was a word you didn't say back then, because there was no hope. And she was so happy. And it was like, wow. If you're OK, then I guess we're going to be OK. And she said, OK, I need some help after school.

I need this, I need this. And she looked at me, and she goes, and you, mister? And I said, yes. And she goes, we're broke. We're going to get you through one more year of skating. And then you're done. And you're going to graduate high school this year, hopefully. I negotiated my high school diploma. And you're going to go to college next year at Bowling Green, because we're both professors and we can afford free.

That's your life. Have a great year. Make it your best year ever.

And then next year, life's going to change. So yeah, but with your mom and that, I mean, how did that go down? I mean, that she was that upbeat.

But did you fill in the blanks and say, what does this mean? Well, no, I was concerned, because I just figured, how could she be so upbeat unless she knew something that nobody else knew? And she was just the most loving, compassionate, funny lady. And I just worshipped her. I loved her so much. And I got to nationals, and my mom arrived.

And she was wearing a sling, because they removed her left breast and the inside, all the lymph in her left arm. And then I remember setting up this triple salchow. And I figured, last competition ever, might as well just throw this thing. And normally, my view at the end of my hardest jump in my program was that of the ceiling, because that's how I did things.

I fell down, and I'd go, oh, there's the ceiling again. And this time, I was looking at the audience. And I was skating backwards on my right foot on an outside edge. And I landed the very first triple I'd ever done in competition. And I got so excited that I forgot to mess up my program. And I won junior nationals.

So now, everybody in the event was embarrassed. And my mom was so upbeat that week, because she had met a couple on her way to the nationals, who she'd been introduced to by a judge who took interest in my skating. They were wealthy, had no children, loved skating, and they wanted to sponsor me. So the only string attached was that that year, I had to move to Denver about the same time my new coach was coaching a girl named Dorothy Hamill to an Olympic gold medal. I won the lottery. And it was like, wow, I had a second chance at skating.

And my mom was still suffering, and she was doing it. So the next year, I'm on the senior level for the first time. I got to nationals, and I came in ninth. Familiar spot.

Yeah. And then I went back home, as I always did. And I went to my mom's room in the hospital.

My brother and I went. We were there till about 3 o'clock in the morning. And I was sleeping on the couch, because we had a lot of people there that time, because she was pretty much in the hospital. And my brother-in-law at the time woke me up and just said, he just said four words, your mother is gone. I've told this story so many times.

And I just think, yeah, who forgets me every time? And all I could think to say is, I know. And so I went for a walk in the backyard. And I learned about grief in a really powerful way that day, because I saw so many people become self-destructive in their grief.

And I saw that loss destroy families. And I realized that I didn't have to lose her. I could take her with me every single day to the ice. And I could be accountable to her. And I could honor every single sacrifice she made for me by being the person skater that she always dreamed I could be. So that gave you the power, really.

The power. To move forward. So I was, I'm going to be late. Nope, honor your mom.

I'm on time. It's summer. I don't feel like doing a long program run through. It's altitude.

Honor your mom. Long program run through. Competition level. Let's go. And that year, I just got into, I was in the best shape of my life. I was focused. I was prepared. And that was the year triple lets went into the program. That was the year that I started winning. Like, against people, beating people, I never had any business beating. Like, these are the best guys in the country. I want to, let me talk about your mom a bit more.

Please. Because I, you know, we kind of go through that, but she must have been an amazing woman. Oh, she was spectacular. She was, she would always wear the same clothes because she didn't want to take anything for herself and it all went to her kids, right? So she wore the same thing all the time. And she was a school teacher. She started in second grade and she taught second grade and she loved it. So she was amazing.

Laughter, laughter, laughter. She was funny. She was loving. She was just, she was the best mom.

And so, you know, everybody, everybody loved my mom. She had a great sense of humor. She never really let anything defeat her.

Right. Ever. And even during her battle of cancer, with cancer, she always found the bright side. Always found the best thing that could happen. And she was always very positive.

And her attitude showed up in my cancer journey. When I looked back, I knew that I was going to survive because the doctor said, you're going to survive. And I just, in my spirit, I knew that there was no way in the world I was going to succumb to this cancer.

I just felt it. And so I was preparing for the next. And I wanted my cancer journey to be joyful. And it wasn't always.

At times it was ugh, right? But I knew that somehow my world was changing and I knew that I was being moved. I was being moved. And I didn't, at the time I knew I'm being moved, but I didn't really understand how or who or why. I just, I was being moved.

Yeah. And so I got through that. I had a 38-staple surgery.

I affectionately called filet-o-scot. And then once that incision, which was very long, once it healed up enough, I was able to slowly get back on the ice and get back on tour that year. That's amazing.

Yeah, it was really, I learned a lot. And the pity party was always there. It's like, you don't deserve this, all that. And it's like, no, no, there's something about this that's really important. And I need to pay attention to that. Well, there's two aspects of this that really come to mind.

One is we haven't really gotten to winning a gold medal. No. And what that meant. I think there's a little bit of connection with this because so many people that pursue that kind of lofty goal, it's kind of like the businessman that wants to do that one last deal or that golfer that wants to win that one next tournament. You know, it's just always the next thing. And there is a certain drive in certain people that makes them move in that direction.

But once they get there, so often, if they're honest about it, it doesn't fill that hole. No, it was really interesting. For me, like, after the 80 Olympics, I was fifth. And I thought eighth would have been perfect. And I was fifth. So I'm like, oh, that's great. I'm fifth.

This is really cool. Like, I could see the guys on the podium. They're like, they're right there. You know, they're like, can I have your autograph? I'm an optimist. So, like, I could see them. I know them.

They're my friends. Now we're like, oh, I'm fifth. I'm a second whatever. And then I woke up one morning in the spring, and it just hit me all at once that the Olympic gold medalist Robin Cousins turned professional. Jan Hoffman, the silver medalist, went to medical school.

Charlie Tickner, the bronze medalist, turned professional. All I had to do is wake up, and I'm ranked second in the world, which is probably easily the best cup of coffee I've ever had in my life. And I had to figure out, how do I get to number one?

I'm that close. What do I need to do to win? And I won the long, and I won the world championships.

And I'm looking. I'm going, oh, no. Okay, first, if I'm the sports world champion as last place guy, this is the lowest point in the sports history if I'm this champion, right? It's like this has got to be horrible for the sport. And I defended the next year, and the sport changed that year. It just flipped.

I was still one, and everybody else had changed places. And I was like, holy cow, wait a minute. All I have to do is figure out how to stay ahead of these guys, and maybe I could win an Olympics. And then it happened, and it's crazy that I still figure that it's like, how? I'm the least likely person on the planet to win an Olympic gold medal.

No, really. I was sick. I didn't grow. I was the smallest and the weakest. I was this and I was that. I was a loser. I had fallen all these times. I had embarrassed myself. But what I started to figure out was that every single one of those failures was a spectacular learning opportunity. Like, I realized when I started writing Finish First, because it was Donald Miller's great.

I love Donald Miller. I asked him, I go, I need you to help me with, come up with an idea. And he goes, I think you should write a book about winning, because everybody wants to know what it feels like to win an Olympic gold medal. And it's like, oh, I know how to do that.

I can do that. And so it was that whole understanding of, it's like, how many people in this room have failed? If you don't raise your hand, you're lying, you're not listening. And I realized that in that, that failure, if you had to come up with a list of ingredients for failure, it only has one ingredient. And that's information. So we all take our losses, we all take our failures, we put them in a bag and we carry them over our shoulder. And those are our failures, and we're just going to carry them. And it's so unhealthy to do that, because it drags you down and it prevents you from being nimble. It prevents you from being free.

It prevents you from being all those things. And when I think about all those failures, right, it all made sense to look at them as information. But as I stepped into faith, I realized that they'd all been taken away anyway. I had no right to hang on.

Well, that's the other point. Where were you with the Lord? What was God doing in your life?

Was He even on your radar at this point, when you're winning the gold? You know, I always believe, when I skated at the wagon wheel with Janet, Janet was a beautiful spirit. She just loved the Lord, and everybody in the rink wanted to be like Janet. And they all had their Bibles, and I tried to read the Bible. And I just didn't understand.

There was nobody there to help me understand what this was all about. And so I remember one day just going for a long walk and just praying, just praying. I don't know who you are, but I believe in you. I just want to, I just, I believe.

I don't know what to do. And so that was sort of my stance. I believe, but I don't know what to do. I believe, but I'm stuck. I believe, but I, and I would pray at certain times, you know, and, you know, I asked my mom, I'd pray. And when I, when Sergei Grinkov, you know, felt, went down on the ice, I prayed. When I got cancer, I prayed, and I just, but I didn't know who I was praying to or what I was praying about.

But I was convicted. I knew that I was never alone. I knew that the Lord had something for me.

I just didn't know what it was. To the point where that year I came in last in Novice Nationals, I was walking out of the building, and I was thinking, now, when they do a movie on my life story, and I was like, like, why would I even think that, right? And it was just, I never felt alone. I always felt like I was supported. There was something there.

But it was without substance, right? So I get cancer. I go through all the professional years. I do all that. And I'm really just trying to be the best I can be.

And I take advantage of each opportunity and be a good steward of what I've been given, all those things. And then I get cancer, and I realize it's time to move. You're not doing something that you need to be doing. You're doing things wrong, or things aren't the way they should be.

There's something that you need to just strip it down and step away. So I got in my car, and I just started to drive. And I ended up spinning out in the desert near Tucson.

And a friend of mine managed a hotel there. So I mooched off him until I found another car. And they found the car. And I go, where is it? And they go, L.A. And I go, oh, okay.

And they go, we're going to flatbed it. And I go, how much is that going to cost? And they go, 1,000. And I go, ugh. How much is a Southwest ticket?

And they go, 50. And I go, that's a better deal. I'm homeless right now. I didn't really want to go back to Denver. I just felt like I needed to start over. I had a second chance at life. If my mom didn't, I needed to start over. And so for the next three years, post-cancer, I'd just bounce around. I'd work. I'd play a little golf in the summer. I was living my life.

But I just felt toxic and not healthy. That's former Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton. He's being so transparent. We have to break into the conversation right here. But we will pick it up next time to hear more of his dramatic story. This is Focused on the Family with Jim Daly. Jon, it's an inspiring story.

But we've primarily heard today about his ice skating challenges and losing his mom to cancer. And it's in this deep valley where things begin to turn for him. And it does leave you with the question, what's God going to do next? Some people might be in that spot. And one of the beautiful things about our testimonies is it's a demonstration of what God can do. And if you're in that spot, man, hang on. Because next time we're going to come back and talk about how God showed up in Scott's life and begin to put those broken pieces back together.

He still faced a lot of challenges, no doubt. But it is amazing to hear. And of course, you and I have the benefit of knowing what's coming.

It's amazing to hear just how God intervened on his behalf and really pulled the pieces together. And of course, we want to get this resource to you. If you can make a donation of any amount, we'll send you Scott's book as our way of saying thank you for being part of the ministry and helping another family pull their pieces together.

That's well said. And the book is great. Finish First is the title. It'll inspire you. It'll show you how God can work even in some of the darkest circumstances. Call today to donate to the ministry and request that book. Our number is 800, the letter A in the word family.

800-232-6459. Or you can find details in the show notes. Thanks for listening today to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller inviting you back as we hear the balance of the conversation with Scott Hamilton and once again, help you and your family thrive in Christ. and the Bible more deeply and inspire you to be a passionate follower of Christ. Watch the first episode at RVL discipleship.com