Skating through a farewell tour

Scott Hamilton is giving up his Stars on Ice gig but not hanging up his skates. At 42, the Olympic gold medalist is shifting gears to work on other projects.

TAMPA -- Let's put the rumors to rest: Scott Hamilton is not retiring. He is just bidding farewell to the Stars on Ice tour he co-founded 15 years ago.

"I want to let people know just how grateful I am to them," he said in a recent telephone interview from Kansas City, Mo. "It is important to have balance in my life. I have been a professional ice skater one year longer than I was an amateur. I need to try other projects. I am looking to the future."

The 42-year-old has been saying goodbye four nights a week during a 65-city tour that began in December and ends in April. The tour comes to Tampa's Ice Palace on Friday night.

"The tour is great fun," Hamilton said. "I understand the lifestyle (of being on the road), and every city is familiar to me."

He emphasized this is not about hanging up his skates.

"I'm cutting back, but I'm not going to stop skating," he said. "I want to give (the tour) to the next generation and do some television projects and theater shows."

Skating has been part of Hamilton's life since he was a young child. He won Olympic gold in 1984 and turned professional later that year. Ten years later, he won the Gold Championship, an elite professional ice skating event, beating out much younger men.

And, in 1997, he had a bout with testicular cancer and won.

Hamilton said his health is now "perfect," and his memories of a long career are fond.

Winning the gold at the Los Angeles Olympics was phenomenal, he said, but beating Brian Boitano and Viktor Petrenko for the Gold Championship, at age 36, is his most exciting memory.

"I didn't want to go to sleep that night," he said.

Two years ago, Hamilton wrote his autobiography, Landing It. In the book, he talked about endurance. "I believe that life was created to test us to see how much we can handle," he wrote. "I believe we can endure any hardship or crisis if we put our mind and faith to it."

He says he tries to be grateful for every day. "I work hard to be a good person and a good citizen," he said. "I try hard to be positive."

He said he will miss the tour and the audiences.

"This (farewell) tour is not about me. It is about them, my audiences and colleagues," he said. "I have been fortunate to explore a lot of different things and have shared the ice with a lot of wonderful people. Wow, look at what I have experienced."

Joining Hamilton on the ice will be Ilia Kulik, Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, Yuka Sato, Gorsha Sur and Renee Roca, Todd Sand and Jenni Meno, Kurt Browning and Steven Cousins. Denis Petrov, who won world amateur and professional championships with Elena Bechke, is now skating solo.

Expect to see Hamilton's trademark back flip during Friday's show. "It wouldn't be me without it," he said.