Mark Hamilton raced kayak fours at both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, making the final in 1992. He actually started out as a whitewater canoeist but switched to flatwater after 10 years of racing slalom. His greatest meet ever was the 1989 US Nationals, where he won golds in the K-1 10K, K-4 500, and K-4 1,000, adding a silver medal in the K-1 500. Hamilton won a silver medal in K-2 500 at the 1991 Pan American Games. He worked for a time as an administrative analyst for public relations and marketing for the City of Orange, California.