By Liz Leamy
With all of the discussion and planning regarding the proposed construction of a new rink in Greenwich, it is rather fascinating to learn the legacy of the storied original structure located on Sherman Avenue in Byram of which it is named after, Dorothy Hamill, the renowned 1976 U.S. Olympic and World gold medalist and three-time U.S. champion.
Hamill, who grew up and lived in Riverside and attended Eastern Middle School, is known as one of figure skating’s most influential and prolific icons and with obvious reason, as her skills and artistry were superb while she was also someone who consistently performed at optimal level, especially when the pressure was on.
Humble, genuine and effervescent, Hamill, who resides in Baltimore, Maryland, initially made her mark as one of skating’s rising stars when she was training at rinks all over the local area growing up, including the Rye Playland Ice Casino, the (now closed) Crystal Rink in Norwalk and the former Sky Rink in Manhattan.
By the time she reached her early teens, she was the U.S. Novice champion, U.S. junior silver medalist and U.S. Championship second-place finisher.
In 1974 at age 16, Hamill claimed her first U.S. Championship title in Providence, Rhode Island, the same year she had also emerged as one of the sport’s most prolific and significant stars on the World Championship level.
In March, more than six weeks after claiming the U.S. title, Hamill stunned the world with her stellar unforgettable performance at the World Championships in Munich, which was then part of West Germany, with this emerging as one of the most dramatic sports stories of its time.
Hamill, who was the top American seed in the ladies event at this competition, had been second in the initial school figures round, closely trailing leader Christine Errath of East Berlin, West Germany going into the final round of the competition, the free skate.
Errath, a petite brunette, who, like Hamill, was known for her outstanding freestyle skills, skated strong free program and in turn, received marks from the nine-member international judging panel that prompted the audience to boo and whistle loudly in dissatisfaction, causing confusion for Hamill, who took the ice right after her.
Upon getting ready to start her program, Hamill had been skating in circles with her hands on her waist. not sure of how to handle the audience’s behavior.
Within minutes, she soon broke down in tears as the booing and whistling had gotten to her, as she skated off the ice sobbing and running into the arms of her father, Chalmers Hamill, a former U.S. Marine who worked for Pitney Bowes in Stamford at the time.
At that point Hamill’s father, along with the U.S. Figure Skating figureheads helped get her spirits back up in calm and supportive fashion, explaining how the crowd had been upset by the marks for Errath and not by anything else.
Although she had been told she could wait to skate, Hamill responded, in her signature firecracker style, to get back on the ice and do her job.
Upon marching up to the gate and gliding to her starting spot, Hamill famously then proceeded to skate the most spectacular programs of her life, rendering this moment as the one that indeed established her as a true star of the sport.
Reeling off jumps that soared up to 20 feet in length at top speeds as well as gorgeous, high-velocity spins, Hamill’s program to Igor Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’ earned her a huge standing ovation from the elated crowd as well as the silver medal to subsequently designate this moment as one that still in time, a remarkable thing considering that it occurred more than 50 years ago.
Moreover, Hamill’s demonstration of her strength, power, grit and spirit reflects so much of the character of the Greenwich community, which is comprised of a so many people who are all about these very same characteristics.
In the years following this life-defining moment, Hamill in turn went on to claim two more U.S. Championship titles, another World silver medal, a World Championship title and Olympic gold, while she also became a star performer, owner of the Ice Capades and a worldwide celebrity, among many other amazing things.
Since 2009, she has been married to John MacColl and has raised her daughter, Alexandra Forsythe, both of whom she is extremely devoted to.
Although it’s been a number of years since Hamill has made a visit to the rink in her name, she is known to always express her tremendous gratitude for the honor as well as deep appreciation for the community of Greenwich citing how it represents a place of great possibility and dreams, with it having served as her homebase throughout her entire amateur competitive career.
In noting this vital piece of history regarding Hamill, it is ever-critical to acknowledge the role and legacy upon which the Town of Greenwich rink, which is named after her, as being a powerful structure signifying the character, role and personality of the community, especially with the construction plans for a new start-of-the-art venue in the works.
