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Posted: Monday November 29, 1999 02:30 PM

Use the menu below to read our biographies of the century's greatest sportswomen and then tell us who you think should be No. 1. Also, be sure to check out our expanded home page and our new issue which is on newsstands now.

32. Dorothy Hamill, Figure Skating

1956-
Olympic gold medalist and three-time national champion

Hamill was America's sweetheart. Tony Triolo
Figure skating may be rife with promising young talents, but it is rare that any of them live up to the hype and capture the nation's interest the way Dorothy Hamill did. As America's best hope for an Olympic figure-skating medal at the 1976 Innsbruck Games, the 19-year-old three-time national champ performed masterfully and remains an icon to this day.

Hamill began skating when she was eight-years-old on a pond near her home in Greenwich, Conn. She signed up for lessons and progressed so rapidly in the sport that she finished seventh at the 1971 world championships in Lyon, France. Shortly afterwards, a 14-year-old Hamill was taken out of school permanently by her parents so she could skate seven hours a day, six days a week. Hamill, who continued her schooling with private tutors, began training in Colorado with renowned skating coach Carlo Fassi, who had trained two-time world champion Peggy Fleming. Fassi taught Hamill use her strength and jumping ability to create signature moves such as the "Hamill camel" (a camel spin which flips into a sit spin).

Having just won her third consecutive national championship, Hamill was primed and ready at the 1976 Games. She captivated the television audience by scoring eight 5.8's, a 5.9 in technical merit and all 5.9's in artistic interpretation. Not only did Hamill win the gold medal, she also won the adoration of little girls everywhere, many of whom displayed their affection for Hamill by wearing her "wedge" haircut. After winning gold at the world championships in Göteborg," Sweden later that year, Hamill announced that she was turning pro. She signed a seven-figure deal with the Ice Capades, which she headlined from 1977-'84.

Between 1984 and '87, Hamill won four straight World Professional Figure Skating championships, and now skates in short-engagement shows and benefits. In October 1999, she opened the 1999-2000 season at Rockefeller Center's famed rink.

They said it : "I cringe whenever I see tapes of myself back then, I wasn't very good, not compared to what they can do today, to what I can do today. I don't think enough people realize that skaters get better as they get older. Olympic skating is all about jumping, how many triples you hit cleanly. Watch professional skaters, and you'll see a more fluid, more disciplined style. Some of it comes with practice, some of it comes with maturity." --Hamill

-- Jamie MacDonald

Athletes were selected by Sports Illustrated For Women, Sports Illustrated and CNN/SI editors, writers and correspondents who considered the athletes' on-field performance and achievements, plus their contributions to women's sports. Because athletic achievement was a key criterion, women whose contributions were made solely in administration and coaching are not included.

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