Scott Hamilton’s Health: What to Know About the Olympic Gold Medalist’s Brain Tumor Battle
The professional figure skater has bravely faced a number of health issues in his lifetime and recently opened up about being ‘unwanted as a baby’ in a new interview.
Scott Hamilton, 65, won America’s hearts when he brought home the gold medal in the men’s category at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The epic win ended a 24-year gold medal drought for the U.S. in men’s figure skating and put the skilled and energetic athlete into a big spotlight. He went on to win many more impressive titles and eventually turned professional, performing to figure skating fans all over the world in his successful self-created tour, Stars on Ice, for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Before his skating career took off, Scott, who was adopted at six weeks old, battled a mysterious childhood illness that was misdiagnosed several times. When he started skating, his health improved, and it was later determined that the illness was caused by a congenital brain tumor. The athlete opened up about this time in his life during a February 2024 interview with PEOPLE.
“I was unwanted as a baby, and I got great parents,” Scott explained. “I got sick, and I found skating. I lost my mother, and I found my identity in her. Why would I ever look at these difficult times as anything other than strengthening times? I’m blessed beyond my wildest imagination.”
Scott, who is known for his charismatic and funny skating programs, faced health issues again in 1997, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After getting treated through surgery and chemotherapy, his health was in the clear until 2004, when he was then diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. He had to go through a series of surgeries to treat both the tumor and complications that came along with it. After a successful outcome, he found out he was battling a brain tumor once again in 2016.
Find out more about Scott’s health battles and where he’s at today below.
Scott Hamilton Diagnosed With a Brain Tumor
Scott was first diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in November 2004. He was treated at the Cleveland Clinic and was diagnosed with another brain tumor in 2010. During surgery for the second brain tumor, a complication caused an aneurism and he had to have surgery for that. Both were successful, but in 2016, Scott was diagnosed with a third brain tumor. Scott, who is known for his lighthearted and compassionate personality, talked to PEOPLE about the third diagnosis that same year.
“I have a unique hobby of collecting life-threatening illness,” he told the outlet. “It’s six years later, and it decided that it wanted an encore.”
“The first brain tumor knocked me down,” Scott also told Coping Magazine in 2018. “The second brain tumor, things didn’t seem right, and I guess that was a premonition. The surgery to remove the tumor had a complication that created an aneurism. After the obliteration of the aneurism, I went back to life more diminished than my previous two health adventures. When the third one was found, I was much more in control. I had survived two previous ones and cancer, so I approached this adventure with calmness and a better understanding of the process.”
Scott decided to not have surgery for the third brain tumor, even though it was given to him as an option. It proved to be a smart decision as the tumor shrunk. Just before COVID-19, however, it grew again. “All I felt was just, don’t worry about this. Just go home and get strong,” he told PEOPLE in February 2024. “They go, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ And I said, ‘I think I’m going to go home and get strong. I was just answering my spirit.”
What is a Brain Tumor?
A brain tumor is “a growth of cells in the brain or near it,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “Brain tumors can happen in the brain tissue. Brain tumors also can happen near the brain tissue. Nearby locations include nerves, the pituitary gland, the pineal gland, and the membranes that cover the surface of the brain.”
Many different types of brain tumors can exist, the Mayo Clinic also says. “Some brain tumors aren’t cancerous. These are called noncancerous brain tumors or benign brain tumors,” the clinic states. “Noncancerous brain tumors may grow over time and press on the brain tissue. Other brain tumors are brain cancers, also called malignant brain tumors. Brain cancers may grow quickly. The cancer cells can invade and destroy the brain tissue.”
Brain tumors can range in size and depending on where they are in the brain, it can cause symptoms right away or take a long time and grow very big before any symptoms are detected. Some symptoms can include headaches, nausea or vomiting, eye problems, such as blurry vision or loss of vision, losing feeling in an arm or leg, loss of balance, memory problems, dizziness, feeling very hungry and gaining weight, and more.
Brain tumors develop when cells in or near the brain get changes in their DNA. The changes tell the cells to grow quickly and continue to live when healthy cells die as part of the natural life cycle. The extra cells can cause a growth called a tumor. It’s unclear what causes this to happen, but some brain tumors can be hereditary while others can be linked exposure to high radiation. They can also happen at any age, including to children, but most often happen in older adults.
How Long Has Scott Hamilton Had a Brain Tumor?
Scott was diagnosed with his first brain tumor in 2004 and a second in 2010. His third was diagnosed in 2016 and is still there. He opted not to have surgery and has closely monitored the tumor with regular doctor’s visits.
How is Scott Hamilton Doing Today?
In 2024, Scott revealed the third brain tumor has had its changes since he opted not to have the surgery in 2016. “It’s been remarkable,” he told PEOPLE. “I went back to the scan three months later and they said, it hasn’t grown. I go back three months later and they go, it shrank 45%. I said to my surgeon, ‘Can you explain this?’ And he said, ‘God.’ I went back in, and it shrunk 25% again.”
The next time he had it checked, there was a different result. “It had grown,” he said. “And then COVID hit and going into any kind of hospital situation was almost impossible. So in my spirit, in my inner being, I realized, I’m totally at peace with not even looking at it again unless I become symptomatic.”
The legendary skater also said he’s considering treatments that may help him avoid having to have surgery again. “The ace I have up my sleeve is that now there is a targeted radiation therapy that will shrink the tumor,” he explained. “And in that, I can avoid a lot of other things like surgery and chemo. So I don’t know, I’m mostly trying to be in the moment and taking all the information and do the right thing when the time comes.”
Throughout his health struggles, Scott started the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, which has helped fund cancer research that has saved many lives. He married Tracie Robinson in 2002 and they share three sons and a daughter. He also continues to work behind the scenes for Stars on Ice, and sometimes appears on the ice for special shows.
“I’m blessed beyond my wildest imagination,” he told PEOPLE in February 2024, while celebrating the 40th anniversary of his Olympic gold medal win. “I never would’ve thought to dream any of the things that have happened to me. I never would’ve thought to dream that one day I would found a cancer organization that’s actually going to have impact and save lives. I never would’ve thought to dream that an Olympic gold medal experience would’ve allowed me to give so much back to my sport and help create a platform to give careers to so many of the greatest skaters in the history of the sport.”
“And to have my children and just how amazing they are, and my wife and how amazing she is? I never would’ve thought to dream any of it,” he added.