America’s sweetheart Dorothy Hamill to skate with Champions on Ice, Jan. 11 in Portland

After more than a quarter-century, she remains “America’s Sweetheart” on the ice.

Many remember when Dorothy Hamill climbed up the medals stand in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976, after winning the Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating. Since then, she’s remained a constant presence on the American skating scene.

Winning the Olympics was but the means to an end for Hamill the artist.

“Competition was never what I loved,” recalled the 45-year-old Hamill. “I like the shows, the artistic component of them. Back then, you had to win Olympic gold to skate in the shows.”

Hamill, now with the Champions on Ice show, will be coming to Portland Jan. 11, for a 7:30 p.m. show at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Also on the bill are solo skaters Surya Bonaly, Nancy Kerrigan, Nicole Bobek, Philippe Candeloro, Rudy Galindo and Victor Petrenko and the pair teams of Punsalan and Swallow and Brasseur and Eisler.

Champions on Ice, with which Hamill has toured for the past five seasons, is the latest phase in her lengthy career. She joined up after taking a year off from skating in the late ’90s, after a time of personal turmoil. She and her second husband, Dr. Kenneth Forsythe, had to sell the Ice Capades, she ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the couple then got divorced. The Connecticut native moved to Baltimore with daughter Alexandra.

“I took time off and reflected on things,” she said. “Then Tommy [Collins, owner of Champions on Ice] gave me a call. I thought, ‘That would be nice, just to go out and do my two numbers each night.’ ”

There wasn’t enough of Hamill to go around when she was attempting to resurrect the financially ailing Ice Capades.

“You just can’t do it all, and be a mom at the same time,” she said.

After the Olympics, Hamill became the first female athlete to sign a $1 million-a-year contract, with the Ice Capades, with whom she toured for many years. She won five straight professional championships, and had her own TV specials. Her signature move is the “Hamill Camel,” a camel spin lowered into a back sit spin.

Unfortunately, she remains best known for her famous “wedge” hairstyle, which set off a national craze in the late ’70s. The creation of Japanese stylist Yusuke Suga, Life magazine called it “one of the most important fashion statements of the last 50 years.”

Hamill was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1991 and elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in May 2000.

She has been able to hold her place on the ice through vigorous training. She skates at least two hours a day (more if she’s working on new programs) and works out three times a week with a physical therapist and a trainer. This is despite having osteoarthritis, an inflammation of the cartilage surrounding major joints, the symptoms of which she keeps under control through medication.

“If I miss a day, I’m back to square one,” she explained simply.

Hamill doubts that she’s still an inspiration to today’s skaters. In fact, they inspire her.

“I have a lot of respect for the young kids today,” she said. “They compete almost every weekend. During my competitive days, we’d compete for a few weeks, then do some shows.”

Hamill will spend four weeks this year with Champions on Ice. The rest of her time, she’ll spend at home with Alexandra, 13, except for occasional speaking engagements and performances.

“It bothers me when I’m away, and someone else is taking her to her activities and school,” she said.

Hamill will be at the Olympics next month in Salt Lake City, Utah, her first since 1992. She’ll be there as a representative for Sears.

“I’ll be sitting there watching, and it should be a very good competition, which I hope Michelle [Kwan] wins,” she said.

Hamill never dreamed that she’d still be skating professionally 26 years after her Olympic triumph. But she’ll always be skating.

“It’s my therapy, my escape,” she said. “I love it.”

For tickets, call the Cumberland County Civic Center box office at 775-3458 or Ticketmaster at 775-3331.