Scott Hamilton, the creator of the show ‘Stars on Ice’ and the winner of the gold medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, will celebrate tomorrow the 30 years since his success at the Games.
‘’I have been blessed more than I could have dreamed’’, he said. ‘’Skating made all of that possible. To represent the USA at the Games seemed impossible. To have a four-year winning series seemed impossible. I achieved the maximum during the Games in Sarajevo’’.
Hamilton arrived to Sarajevo in 1984 as the favorite and he felt huge pressure before the start of the competition. He kept it all to himself, avoiding to talk about the chances of him winning, unless he really had to.
‘’I knew that some people think that I would have lost had I not won the gold medal. I had to ignore all of that. I had to focus on my performance and to take the gold. That was the only important thing’’, said Hamilton.
This legendary ice skater won the gold medal in Sarajevo in front of his biggest opponent, the Canadian Brian Orser.
Recalling Sarajevo after the war, Hamilton said that for him there is only one Sarajevo that exists-the city where he skated in.
‘’Maybe you would think: this cannot be the same place any longer when there was so much violence and death. I simply could not accept such a thing when I think about the city that held the Games. It was a place where everything was festive, positive and open, for all competitors, as well as all visitors. It was all one big celebration’’, said Hamilton.
‘’To see Sarajevo on TV, during the war years, was something my mind could not accept. To me, Sarajevo should be the Sarajevo in 1984’’, said Hamilton.
(Source: klix.ba)
