In 1976, Dorothy Hamill became synonymous with ice skating. One of three American athletes to bring home gold from the Innsbruck Winter Olympics, she became immediately and widely beloved across the US. The media called her “America’s Sweetheart” (she was 19) and her cropped-bob haircut sent millions of late-70s women and girls to the salon seeking the “short and sassy”.
Hamill became an Ice Capades Star after her amateur skating career and remained an icon of sports and style. As late as 1993, she and fellow Olympian Mary Lou Retton tied for the honor of most popular athletes among 800 other names (including Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Joe Montana, and all the other usual suspects).
She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. So we’re claiming her.
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