Dorothy Hamill quotes

Dorothy Hamill is an American figure skater who achieved fame by winning the gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Her talent, innovative moves, and signature "Hamill camel" spin captivated audiences around the world. She continues to inspire new generations through her contributions to the sport and her public presence. Here are 21 of her quotes:

I was passionate. I found something that I loved. I could be all alone in a big old skating rink and nobody could get near me and I didn't have to talk to anybody because of my shyness. It was great. I was in my fantasy world.

Dorothy Hamill

I was a bratty little sister. I was the youngest of three, and I often felt as though I didn't fit in.

Dorothy Hamill

In my teen years leading up to the Olympics, I loved having the excuse to skip out on parties because of skating. Partying wasnt my thing anyway. Mostly I hung out with other skaters. We were all buddies, so its not like I missed out on socializing. I was really enjoying myself.

Dorothy Hamill

My mother stopped working when she had my brother. She was a full time mom until I started getting heavily into ice skating lessons, and it got to the point where they really needed my mom to earn an income.

Dorothy Hamill

I wouldn't say that there's ever been an Olympic champion that didn't deserve to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Dorothy Hamill

Our family life, before figure skating turned it upside down, seemed normal. Our town of Riverside, Connecticut, was part of Greenwich, and we had the advantage of their wonderful community, with great beaches and beautiful parks.

Dorothy Hamill

I always had the sense that nothing was never good enough - striving for perfection. My mother and I had a sort of typical mother-daughter relationship.

Dorothy Hamill

In group lesson number six I think we learned how to turn backwards and then just kind of wiggle. That wasn't really skating backward, but I guess I was going in the right direction.

Dorothy Hamill

There were no competitions on television. The first skating competition I ever remember seeing on television was the 1968 Olympics when Peggy Fleming won.

Dorothy Hamill

My coach was a great politician, so he did most of the work. He was good.

Dorothy Hamill

It was very much like Norman Rockwell: small town America. We walked to school or rode our bikes, stopped at the penny candy store on the way home from school, skated on the pond.

Dorothy Hamill

At times, I feel overwhelmed and my depression leads me into darkness.

Dorothy Hamill

Everybody has to deal with tough times. A gold medal doesn't make you immune to that. A skater is used to falling down and getting up again.

Dorothy Hamill

I wanted to learn how to skate backwards and they wouldn't help me and they went off and left me on my own.

Dorothy Hamill

I hated to read. My mother could not get me to read. I'm going through the same thing with my daughter now. I love to read now, but I don't remember reading.

Dorothy Hamill

My parents didn't have a lot of money, but we never knew that. They really did the best they could.

Dorothy Hamill

I was just ice skating. I had no concept of that. In those days you couldn't see the judges. I was this little person on the ice and they were just people that would stand around the boards.

Dorothy Hamill

It's different today than it was then. In those days we were strictly amateurs. If I had wanted to stay in for the '80 Olympics, my parents couldn't have afforded it.

Dorothy Hamill