January 06, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 26, 1428

BALTIMORE, Jan 5: Former Olympic figure skating champion Dorothy Hamill is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Hamill said in a statement on Friday that she is being treated at the Kimmel Cancer Centre at Johns Hopkins. The prognosis is favourable, but the 51-year-old Hamill stated she would miss some of the “Broadway on Ice” tour while she is having treatment.

Olympic gold medallist Brian Boitano, one of Hamill’s good friends, will fill in for her. Hamill said she hopes to rejoin the tour in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it has shows on Jan 16-17.

At 19, Hamill won the gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Her bright smile and bubbly personality made her a marketing dream — she was once listed as the “Most Trusted Sports Figure in America” by Ladies Home Journal — and her trademark wedge haircut sent girls across the country flocking to the hairdresser.

Hamill is one of seven US women to win the Olympic gold medal. She also was a three-time US champion and won the world title in 1976, and she has been inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Hamill isn’t the first Olympic champion to have cancer.

Peggy Fleming, the 1968 Olympic gold medallist, also had breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 1998, but is now cancer-free and is an advocate for research and awareness.—AP