Olympic figure-skating gold medalist Scott Hamilton is asking fans to keep fame and money in perspective, drawing on a life that has included championship celebrations, loss and serious health challenges.
“Stay grounded, stay disciplined and stay true to who you are,” said Hamilton in a recent Instagram post.
In the accompanying video, he reflected, “I was living a life of fame and fortune, and nothing puts you in touch with your dark side faster than fame or money.”
“Ask anyone. Ask everyone who’s been through it. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees…had a quote that I heard that was really remarkable, and it gave me a gust of wind in my sails. He said, ‘If you can survive first fame, you’re probably going to be okay, but if you don’t survive that first fame, it’ll crush you in every way possible.’ It’ll destroy you,” Hamilton said.
For an athlete whose career put him in front of enormous audiences, the warning comes with a long personal history. CNN’s biographical timeline records four consecutive national and world championship wins from 1981 through 1984, followed by Olympic gold in Sarajevo.
Hamilton later toured with the Ice Capades and co-founded Stars on Ice, extending his career beyond competition. He also worked as a television commentator, a role that kept his enthusiasm for skating in viewers’ homes.
Related: How Cancer Supercharged Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton’s Faith
But the story he tells about achievement begins with a much closer audience: his mother. In his CARES Foundation biography, Hamilton recalled Dorothy Hamilton supporting his skating while undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
She watched him at the 1976 Junior National Championships and again at the national championships the following year, before her death in 1977. Hamilton described carrying her encouragement with him into the years that followed.
“The grief of losing my mother to cancer and how much I loved her was the catalyst for everything that happened afterward,” he said previously.
His own health challenges eventually brought another perspective on what mattered. The foundation’s biography records his 1997 testicular cancer diagnosis and later brain tumors.
“…cancer redeemed me and I’m still a work in progress. I don’t pretend to be redeemed. I’m working hard on it, and I know I have a lot to rise above,” Hamilton said.
His response has also taken a practical form through cancer education, patient support and research advocacy. The foundation describes its purpose as making the journey easier for the next person, rather than simply celebrating what its founder has survived.
“People think CARES came out of my cancer journey, but it has always been about my mom,” Hamilton explained.
The family relationship gives his public work a personal center. Behind the Olympic medalist and broadcaster is a son who remembers his mother’s encouragement and wants other families to face a less difficult path.
For parents discussing celebrity success with their children, Hamilton’s post offers a useful starting point: attention and money can open doors, but they do not settle questions of character. His advice asks fans to protect who they are while pursuing what they hope to accomplish.
Read Next: How Scott Hamilton Transformed Personal Tragedy into Olympic Gold
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