[1] Shortly after her birth, her family moved to the Riverside neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut, where Hamill spent the rest of her childhood.

In the summers, Hamill trained in Lake Placid, New York, and later in Toronto with her coach at the time, Sonya Dunfield.

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.

She was set to skate directly after the West German skater Gerti Schanderl, whose marks were booed while Hamill was already on the ice.

[1][4] At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Hamill came in second in the figures and then won the short and long programs, taking the gold medal.

"[5] The bobbed hairstyle that she wore during her Olympic performance was created by stylist Yusuke Suga [1] and started a fad, known as the "short and sassy" look.

After her performance in the 1976 Olympics, which was viewed by millions globally, her iconic wedge haircut became a trend among women and girls.

Ads for Short & Sassy, both on TV and in print, highlighted Hamill's lustrous dark hair as she gracefully glided on the ice.

[9] After Ice Capades folded due to competition and changing tastes, Hamill and her husband bought the financially strapped company's assets in 1993 in an effort to revive its earlier success, but they declared bankruptcy in 1994.

[10] In 1993, the Associated Press released results of a national sports study showing that Hamill was statistically tied for first place with fellow Olympian Mary Lou Retton as the most popular athlete in America, ranking far ahead of other major sports stars such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Nolan Ryan, and 800 other athletes.

In February 2013, it was revealed that Hamill would take part in the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnering with Tristan MacManus.

After only two dances, on March 26, 2013, she was forced to withdraw from the competition upon advice from her spine surgeon due to a severe strain on her lower back sustained during practice.

[14][15] On March 3, 2017, Hamill was announced as one of 16 celebrities taking part in a cooking competition on the Food Network TV series Chopped.

[16] She was featured in the "Star Power: Culinary Muscle" episode, alongside former NFL player LaMarr Woodley, Olympic medalist fencer Mariel Zagunis, and UFC fighter Paige VanZant.