INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA - February 14, 1976
The Sports Time Traveler is reporting virtually from the 1976 Winter Olympics here in Innsbruck, where yesterday the women’s figure skating competition concluded.
19-year-old American Dorothy Hamill was the favorite to win the gold medal, and she came into the final of the 3 programs of the competition as the leader.
Here were the standings, in terms of total places, after the first 2 programs - the compulsory on February 9th and the short program on February 10th:
1st Dorothy Hamill, USA - 2nd in compulsory and 1st in short program - 88.4 points
2nd (tie) Dianne de Leeuw, Netherlands - 3rd in compulsory and 4th in short program - 86.4 2nd (tie) Christine Errath, East Germany - 5th in compulsory and 2nd in short program - 85.6
2nd (tie) Anette Potzsch, East Germany - 4th in compulsory and 3rd in short program - 85.5
5th Isabel de Navarre, West Germany - 1st in compulsory and 11th in short program
Hamill is in a position to win the gold medal that eluded her in last year’s World Championships when she fell in the short program.
But Dorothy is no shoo-in to win gold.
First of all, she is battling flu-like symptoms.
Second, and of greater concern, she is battling her own nerves.
The memory of her falls in the World Championships and other competitions haunts Hamill, and has her so stressed before performances that she feels ill.
Wick Temple of the AP reported yesterday morning, “She is plagued with stage fright and has a fear of falling.”
And it did not help at all when, in practice yesterday morning, prior to the final program, the free skate, Dorothy fell again. John Vinocur, of the AP, wrote, “Dorothy Hamill was skating into a double jump during practice… up she went and then down she went, sprawling on the ice. The first person she looked toward was her coach, Carlo Fassi. He smiled at her and said something about practice being the best place to take flops.”
Could Dorothy Hamill overcome her fears and her emotions and perform well enough in the 4 minutes free skate to win gold?
I just had to make the virtual trip to experience Dorothy Hamill’s free skate performance in the 1976 Olympics.
You can also experience Dorothy Hamill’s performance in the final program of the figure skating competition via this YouTube video:
Below is my commentary on the video with timestamps so you can find each segment:
0:15 - See Jim McKay, ABC’s long-time studio host for Olympic Games broadcasts as he introduces the on-site commentators Chris Schenkel and Dick Button who are at the ice skating rink for the women’s free skate. Schenkel is another long-time ABC Olympics sportscaster, and Dick Button is the two-time men’s gold medalist in figure skating from the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. This is a dynamite set of broadcasters. My personal favorites in all Olympics television history.
7:15 - Dorothy Hamill’s free skate begins
7:38 - Hamill executes her first axel. Dick Button says in a comforting tone, “Very nice, very nice!”
7:50 - Hamill executes a double axel. Button is slightly more enthused as he says, “Very well done. Beautiful.”
8:25 - Hamill performs a double lutz. Button is even more impressed. He says, “Double lutz, very neat, look at the beautiful spiral as she’s pulling out of that.”
8:45 - Watch as Hamill does a double jump combination with a double axel.
9:07 - Another double jump and Button says, “very nice height on that… she’s skating with elegance and ease.”
9:15 - Watch as Hamill performs a butterfly and a back camel. Button says, “Very nice. 2 minutes to go.”
9:50 - Hamill does a layback in which she is spinning with her head arched way back towards the ice. Button is enthralled with her as he says, “Lovely layback. Just beautiful! Just beautiful!” Button puts emphasis on that second, “just beautiful,” in a clear effort to convey just how special Dorothy is skating.
10:10 - Hamill comes out of another jump, the performance has appeared perfect to this point and Button says, “Taking everything with extraordinary ease, flowing from one move to another.”
10:25 - Hamill does a double flip. Button comments, “If she continues like this, that’s where it is.”
11:05 - Hamill is preparing for her final move. It’s a flying camel that continues and drops down into her own signature move, the “Hamill Camel.” She executes it perfectly. Dick Button ecstatically beams, “She has done it! I am sure… This was a lovely, lovely program.”
11:25 - Just as she finishes, Chris Schenkel states emphatically, “Dorothy Hamill has just conquered stage fright, has done a brilliant performance.” Button can’t wait to chime in, “Oh! Look at the flowers coming on the ice. Just marvelous… They’re coming all over us. It’s sensational.” Then Schenkel adds, “They’re still coming down to our right. Look at the people standing. And all this for a lovely 19-year-old young lady. - Dorothy Hamill.”
12:02 - Dick Button begins to summarize the spectacular performance, “The best thing about it was that Dorothy Hamill finally pulled herself together and did it. She didn’t let any of the problems, any of the emotions disturb her. She did a wonderful show.” Button elongates the word “wonderful” to accentuate how strongly he means what he was saying. So confident is Button, that he has just witnessed a gold medal performance, he finishes his statement with this, “That’s really what being an Olympic champion is all about.”
12:40 - Hamill finally finishes gathering flowers on the ice and skates off to the rink exit.
12:55 - We see the judges’ technical marks on the screen. They’re all 5.8 or 5.9 on the 6 point scale.
13:40 - The artistic presentation marks are shown on the screen and a roar comes from the crowd. Schenkel says, “They’re all 5.9. Count ‘em. nine 5.9’s for Dorothy Hamill.”
15:55 - Watch Dick Button interview Dorothy Hamill. Hamill notes that before she began the performance, she was extremely nervous, and then she looked into the stands and saw the giant banner (see it pictured below). Here was the exchange between Dick Button and Dorothy Hamill:
Button: “Were you violently nervous before you started?”
Hamill: “Mmm hmm, I started to cry again. They had a sign up there that said, ‘Which of the West, Dorothy,’ and I started to cry I was so nervous.”
Button: “Maybe that’s what relaxed you and gave you that marvelous control that you had.”
After Dorothy Hamill, all the other contenders perform, but no one can top Dorothy Hamill’s performance.
Dorothy Hamill has won the gold medal!
43:15 - Watch as Dorothy Hamill receives her gold medal.
Dorothy Hamill’s performance was flawless to the untrained eye, and breathtaking to anyone’s eye.
This morning, Will Grimsley of the AP, wrote the story of Hamill’s performance that appeared in most newspapers across America.
Here was the opening paragraph as it appeared in the Stamford Advocate:
In winning gold, Dorothy conquered her nerves. Grimsley reported, “Miss Hamill who cried before her performance but was brilliant during it, fulfilled a dream that began 11 years ago when she started skating on a pond in the back yard of her Riverside, Conn., home.”
Hamill told Grimsley after receiving her gold medal, “I’m very, very happy. This is a wonderful feeling.”
This picture of Dorothy displaying a smile of contentment as she holds up her gold medal appeared along with the article:
Fred Tupper of the New York Times, summarized Dorothy Hamill’s performance with this sentence, “She put together a package to pleasure the eye and pound the heart.”
Here was the final scoring in the women’s figure skating competition:
GOLD Dorothy Hamill, USA - 193.80 points
SILVER Dianne de Leeuw, Netherlands - 190.24 points
BRONZE Christine Errath, East Germany - 188.16 points
POSTSCRIPT
After the 1976 Olympics, Dorothy Hamill achieved a level of fame perhaps unsurpassed among any other American Olympian.
So powerful was her fame that her hairstyle became a hit, and millions of teenage girls began to wear her wedge cut.
And Dorothy’s face remained instantly recognizable for many years, as she was featured in advertisements and commercials for Clairol’s Short & Sassy shampoo and conditioner.
In 1993, 17 years after Hamill’s gold medal performance in the 1976 Winter Olympics, the AP published the results of a poll of the most popular athlete in America. Dorothy Hamill was tied for 1st place with gymnast Mary Lou Retton, gold medalist in 1984.
The pair finished ahead of Michael Jordan, the reigning MVP in basketball, fresh off his 1992 Dream team gold medal, and in the midst of his 3rd consecutive championship season.
Here is the 1993 AP article about the poll:
50 years after earning the gold medal, on February 11, 2026, Woman’s World wrote, “Hamill, now 69, remains one of the most famous faces in the sport.”
It’s a great testimony to the magnitude and lasting legacy of Dorothy Hamill’s magnificent 1976 Olympic figure skating masterpiece.
Wick Temple and Dick Button. Memorable names from years gone by. I was 16 and immediately got a Dorothy Hamill haircut!
In today’s world, she would be seen as having anxiety and would be offered medication or meditation. Back then you gutted it out and accepted that it was a symptom of wanting perfection. I’m not quite sure which is the better response. Nerves are ok, but anxiety can be debilitating. She was my hero even though I preferred my hockey skates.