Figure Skating Association arranged for her to be coached by Carlo Fassi when she began to compete internationally. She placed second at the junior level at the 1970 Championships, and made her senior debut in 1971. Later that spring, Hamill was invited to perform in Madison Square Garden with the exhibition tour (in later years known as Champions on Ice) that followed the 1969 World Figure Skating Championships. Hamill's first national success came in 1969, when she won the novice ladies' title at the U.S. She attended and graduated from Colorado Academy high school. Until the spring of 1970, Hamill attended public schools in Riverside, but at that point she switched to a small school with flexible tutoring to accommodate her skating schedule. During her career, her father would spend up to $20,000 a year on her skating expenses, including skating lessons, travel, living expenses, and costumes. In the summers, Hamill trained in Lake Placid, New York and later in Toronto with her coach at the time, Sonya Dunfield. Ice time was limited in her area, so she eventually began training at Sky Rink in New York City, staying overnight in the city with friends when possible.

Hamill was first coached by Otto Gold and Gustave Lussi. She would wake early in the morning to go to the rink for practice at 4:30 am. She became more serious about the sport the next season, taking regular private lessons and passing her preliminary and first figure test before the seasonal rink closed in March. Hamill started skating in early 1965 at the age of 8, taking weekly group lessons. She has two older siblings, a brother, Sandy, and a sister, Marcia. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to the Riverside neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut, where Hamill spent the rest of her childhood. Hamill was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Chalmers and Carol Hamill.

She is the 1976 Olympic champion and 1976 World champion in ladies' singles. Dorothy Stuart Hamill (born July 26, 1956) is a retired American figure skater.

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