Like so many storybook heroes, Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton, had an unlikely journey to his icon status. At just 6 weeks old, Hamilton was adopted by Ernest and Dorothy Hamilton and he began his life in Bowling Green, Ohio. Around age 2, he developed a condition in which he appeared to stop growing. That's when the quest to determine what was wrong with him began – doctors treated him for everything from cystic fibrosis to Schwackman's Syndrome, a pancreatic enzyme deficiency. Hamilton's parents took him to Boston's Children's Hospital where it was discovered that what Hamilton had was a problem with his intestinal system – he wasn't absorbing food. A special diet and moderate exercise seemed to help the condition, and by age 9, Hamilton started ice-skating.

"I wanted to be in sports but I was pretty weak and undersized and underdeveloped so it was kind of tough for me to be competitive because all of the other kids were bigger and stronger, faster," Hamilton says.

Skating Saves
Skating seemed to be the cure for all that ailed him. "When I found skating, the illness started to dissipate and go away and my physical development started happening," Hamilton says.

On the ice, Hamilton was a force to be reckoned with. By age 13, he was training for national competition. The year he graduated from high school, he won the National Junior Championship.

At the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, Hamilton finished in fifth place. By 1984, at the Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Hamilton won the gold medal. For the next four years, no one could touch him. He went undefeated from the fall of 1980 to the spring of 1984, a feat he considers his greatest accomplishment.

After his Olympic success, Hamilton turned pro. Despite those who thought Hamilton was too short or that his gender would prove to be a stumbling block, Hamilton succeeded. After two years in the Ice Capades, Hamilton launched his own skating company, The Scott Hamilton America Tour, which eventually became Stars on Ice. After winning numerous professional skating championships, Hamilton was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990.

"Without skating, I don't know where I would have gone or where I would be right now," Hamilton says.

Cancer Strikes
During the 1996-97 skating season, Hamilton began what would have been his normal routine of competitions, television specials and touring the country in Stars On Ice. That was the year his life changed forever. On March 18, 1997, Hamilton was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude," he says. With confidence that he could kick the disease and be back on the ice in just a few months, Hamilton underwent 12 weeks of successful chemotherapy treatments followed by an equally successful surgery. After six weeks of recuperation, he did return to the ice and he hasn't looked back.

Hamilton turned his experience with cancer into an opportunity to help others and is now a spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center and the founder of the Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative, the Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship. Hamilton aspires to eradicate cancer within his lifetime and to help find strategies to improve the quality of life for individuals with cancer.

Father Time
Hamilton wasn't always as strong and fit as he grew to be, but he wants his son, Aidan, born in September 2003, to have every opportunity for a healthy lifestyle as he grows. Hamilton and his wife, Tracie, signed Aidan up for a class at My Gym, the fitness centers specially designed for kids, where the three are often seen crawling through tunnels, learning gymnastics and playing with other families.

"I think it's important that all kids have the ability to exercise and socialize and get out there and get an early start," Hamilton says. "With everything that we have seen with Aidan's development it's been a wonderful thing."

Hamilton believes that all children, regardless of economic status, should have access to fitness programs. "We think the program should be available to everyone," Hamilton says. "We believe in it. We think it's terrific for Aidan."

When not hanging out with his family or playing golf, Hamilton continues to perform on ice and to work as a sports analyst. He also is actively involved in a wide variety of charitable organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Special Olympics, Athletes Against Drugs, Target House and the Pediatric Aids Foundation.