Scott Hamilton wasn't supposed to be there, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games.
But the Franklin, Tennessee, resident with gold mettle left there with a gold medal after he won the compulsory figures and placed second in the short program for the U.S. men's figure skating team.
Hamilton, 67, grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio. He was adopted when he was 6 weeks old by two teachers, Dorothy and Ernest Hamilton, and had a congenital brain tumor as a child. He struggled early in his skating career and almost was forced to give up the sport because of financial reasons.
He founded the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy and is one of many notable Winter Olympians with ties to Tennessee.
The Milan-Cortina Games in Italy will be Hamilton's 10th Olympics, where he will be an on-air analyst for NBC.
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"I love the sport," Hamilton told The Tennessean. "I love the athletes, and I really appreciate the trust that's been handed to me to represent them and their stories.
"It's never about me; it's always about them. Always, always."
Here is a look at some of the other notable Winter Olympians with ties to the state of Tennessee.
Janet Lynn, figure skating
Lynn won a bronze medal at the 1972 Games in Hokkaido, Japan, four years after qualifying as a 14-year-old for the 1968 Games in Grenoble, France.
Born in Chicago, Lynn, 72, went on to settle in Sparta, Tennessee, where she became a prominent presence in the figure skating world.
Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, bobsledding
The two-time Olympian (2018, 2022) didn't begin bobsledding until 2015, after competing in track and football in high school in East Orange, New Jersey.
Abdul-Saboor, 38, is a corporal in the United States Army and a former bodybuilder in Knoxville and college football player at the University of Virginia's College at Wise.
Filip Forsberg, ice hockey
The Nashville Predators' forward and all-time leading goal scorer, 31, will play for his native Sweden in this year's Olympics, his first.
Roman Josi, ice hockey
The Predators' captain, 35, who is from Switzerland, will be playing in his second Winter Games.
Josi, who played his 1,000th career game with the Predators on Jan. 22, also played in the 2014 Games in Sochi.
Peter Oppegard, figure skating
The Knoxville native, 66, won a bronze medal in pairs at the 1988 Games in Calgary.
Once married to the sister of Michelle Kwan, a two-time Olympic medalist, Oppegard went on to become a successful — and controversial — coach of 10 national champions. He was accused of physically abusing skaters and was later suspended as coach for one month in 2022 for physical and emotional misconduct, USA TODAY reported.
Juuse Saros, ice hockey
The Predators' goalie, 30, a Vezina Trophy finalist from Finland, will be making his first Olympics appearance.
P.K. Subban, ice hockey
The former Predators defenseman and Norris Trophy winner, 36, won gold with Team Canada at the 2014 Games in Sochi.
Lindsey Vonn, skiing
Vonn's ties to Tennessee go back to when she dated Subban. Vonn, 41, was a regular presence in the city while he was with the team, and he even famously got her a cake in the shape of a goat after she retired from skiing the first time.
She has three Olympic gold medals in four Winter Games for Team USA and is competing this year.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.