October marks the international health campaign of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With one in eight women in the United States diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, breast cancer takes its toll on many communities - and this one is no different.
 
Among the many incredible U.S. figure skaters fighting for a cure, Olympic champions Scott Hamilton, Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill have all done their part. Read more about their involvement below.
 
Scott Hamilton
Scott Hamilton has won 70 titles, awards and honors, including a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games. Off the ice, he has faced his share of hard times, losing his mother to breast cancer and battling testicular cancer and three brain tumors. Throughout these hardships, Hamilton decided to channel his sorrows into activism and became the epitome of U.S. Figure Skating's Get Up® campaign: "We all fall. It's how we Get Up® that matters."
 
In 2014, the four-time U.S. and World champion launched the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) and partnered with other education and survivorship programs including Chemocare.com and the 4th Angel Mentoring Program. This November, Hamilton will combine his love for figure skating with his activism at the third annual Scott Hamilton & Friends show, featuring Sheryl Crow, in Nashville to benefit his foundation. Additionally, throughout each year, he promotes multiple nationwide Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer fundraisers, where communities host different skating events to raise money for "cancer research, education and support," according to its website.
 
Throughout these different events, Hamilton has involved the entire skating community in his fight for a cure in a way that has been entertaining, educational, and impactful.
 
Peggy Fleming
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, Peggy Fleming became an early detection advocate, as her own early detection allowed her have a successful surgery and recovery.
 
Twenty years after her diagnosis, the Olympic champion became the national spokeswoman for Speak Out, a breast cancer awareness campaign, where she spoke on national TV and in magazine ads about her experience, and encouraged women to perform self-exams and get regular mammograms.
 
From that point on, Fleming continued to speak out for breast cancer awareness through multiple mediums, such as accepting health-related endorsements and joining Medco's Tour of Champions.
 
Fleming attributes her ability to fight to the determination and perseverance she learned from figure skating: "My sport taught me what I could do with my talents, whether in the rink or in the rest of my life."
 
Dorothy Hamill
In 1976, Dorothy Hamill took the figure skating community by storm by taking home a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria, and at the World Championships in Goteborg, Sweden.
 
Her success propelled her to write two autobiographies titled On and Off the Ice and A Skating Life: My Story. However, a year after her second publication, Hamill announced her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.
 
After facing many debilitating side effects from her treatment, including fatigue and depression, Hamill decided to take control of her fight against cancer. After personal research, she decided to take the Breast Cancer Index test, where she was able to determine what treatment would be best for her mental and physical health.
 
Following this decision and recovery, Hamill decided to encourage other women to take similar steps in identifying their breast cancer. In 2016, she teamed up with the company that developed the test to launch the BeWisER+ About Breast Cancer campaign to encourage breast cancer survivors to understand that knowledge is power in the fight against the illness.
 
The Olympic champion's advocacy has inspired many women to not only take back control of their cancer, but of their lives.
 
Hamilton, Fleming and Hamill have not only been some of biggest advocates for breast cancer awareness within the U.S. figure skating community, but are also well-known advocates within the entire nation. Their perseverance and bravery have encouraged thousands of skaters and fans alike to continue the fight to find a cure.