Tara Lipinski

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Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) of Sugar Land, Texas is an accomplished figure skater and media celebrity. She was Olympic Champion in Figure Skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics. At those games, she became the youngest gold medalist (at age 15) in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, a record that still stands.

1 Competitive career
2 Professional career
3 Awards & recognition
4 Philanthropic work, endorsements, and publications
5 See also
6 External links
7 Navigation

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Competitive career

Lipinski first came to national prominence when she won the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival competition, which at the time was a junior-level competition. Later that season she placed 4th at the 1995 World Junior Championships and 2nd in the junior level at the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Already, by that time, Lipinski was the subject of a great deal of media attention.

In late 1995, after a disappointing 5th-place finish at the 1996 World Junior Championships, Lipinski changed coaches from Jeff Di Gregorio at the University of Delaware to Richard Callaghan in Detroit. Moving up to the senior level, she benefitted from the withdrawal of Nicole Bobek from the 1996 U.S. Championships to place 3rd at that event and qualify for the (senior) World Championships, where she placed 15th.

That year, the International Skating Union voted to raise the minimum age for participating at the senior World Championships to 15. Lipinski, who was 13 at the time, and other skaters who had already competed at the World Championships before the new age requirement was introduced were "grandfathered" into remaining eligible for future events.

In 1997, Lipinski unexpectedly won both the U.S. and World Championships. She became the youngest person ever to win either of those titles, at the age of 14. At the 1996 U.S. Postal Challenge, Lipinski became the first female skater to land a triple loop/triple loop jump combination, which became her signature element.

The following season, Lipinski got off to a shaky start. She lost to Kwan at the fall Skate America event, to Laetitia Hubert at Trophee Lalique, and to Kwan again at the 1998 U.S. Championships. At the 1998 Winter Olympics, both Lipinski and Kwan skated excellent programs, with Lipinski winning a narrow victory. Some believe that Lipinski was aided by the fact that she skated near the end of the last group, while Kwan skated first.

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Professional career

On March 9, 1998, Lipinski announced her decision to withdraw from the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships, citing a serious glandular infection that required her to have two molars extracted, constant fatigue, and possible mononucleosis.

On April 7, 1998, Lipinski announced her intention to turn professional in an interview with Katie Couric on the Today Show. She cited a desire to spend more time with her family, to have time for school, and to compete professionally against other Olympic champions. However, rather than spending time at home, Lipinski immediately embarked on full schedule of touring, publicity appearances, and acting engagements that required constant travel.

Following her decision to turn professional, Lipinski was heavily criticised both for the decision itself and for the inept public relations skills of her agent and family. For example, the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) was not officially informed of Lipinski's decision to withdraw from the World Championships before the announcement was made to the press. In addition to Lipinski's own conflicting statements, her agent, Mike Burg, told reporters he was worried about Lipinski "tarnishing" her Olympic medal by continuing to compete. In a widely publicized incident, Lipinski's mother said to the press when she found that Michelle Kwan had been chosen to present a team jacket to President Bill Clinton, rather than Lipinski, at a White House reception for Olympic athletes, "Don't you think it's a terrible thing for them to do to poor Tara? It's been like this for poor Tara. It's a terrible thing." Not long after she turned professional, Lipinski also broke an existing $1.2 million contract to appear in made-for-TV events sponsored by the USFSA.

In August 1998, Lipinski suffered a hip injury in practice. After a string of other injuries, she underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage in her hip in September 2000. Many people have pointed to the repetitive stress of practicing the triple loop combinations Lipinski performed during her competitive days as the primary cause of her hip problems.

In an August 2001 article in Blades on Ice magazine, Lipinski stated that the real reason she turned professional was that she had originally incurred the injury to her hip in the summer of 1997 and that she had skated the entire Olympic season in terrible pain. It was never adequately explained why she never mentioned this injury at the time, or why all of her previous statements (including those on her official web site [1]) regarding her hip problems referred to the original injury as happening in the summer of 1998 rather than in 1997.

After turning professional, Lipinski toured with Stars on Ice for four seasons. It was not entirely a successful arrangement for a number of reasons. First of all, Stars on Ice was always an adult-oriented skating show, but Lipinski's own marketing played up her extreme youth and her appeal to pre-teenagers. Second, Lipinski's injury problems not only caused the technical level of her skating to deteriorate, but also caused friction with the producers and other skaters involved with the show who never knew from one day to the next whether she would be fit to skate. Finally, because Lipinski was so young, she felt isolated from the off-ice cameraderie of the other skaters. In a note on her web site [2] dated June 15, 2005, Lipinski said: "It was really hard those last two years of touring for me. Emotionally I was drained and hurt. I have never been treated like that in my whole life."

Lipinski suffered another hip injury in 2002 during a Stars on Ice show in St. Louis, when she fell on her right hip during a jump. "I still thought everything would be fine. I had fallen before and would fall again." The next day, Lipinski tore muscles around her hip, causing the other muscles to take the load and fail.

She participated in rehearsals for a fifth season of the Stars on Ice tour in the fall of 2002, but withdrew from the tour before it began. Although she has not made any official announcement of her retirement from skating, she has not skated since, and has instead concentrated on her acting.

Since turning pro, Lipinski has made numerous television appearances (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Veronica's Closet, Early Edition, and 7th Heaven); she has also done some acting, including major TV movie roles (Ice Angel), a brief supporting role on The Young and the Restless, a cameo appearance in the theatrical film, Vanilla Sky, as well as a role in the independent film, The Metro Chase. She has been a celebrity guest on VH-1's The List, Fox's Beach Party, several Nickelodeon productions, and she has appeared on numerous magazine covers as well as every major talk show. In 1999, CBS aired a primetime special, "Tara Lipinski - From This Moment On."

Lipinski now spends most of her time in Los Angeles. At home, Lipinski is an animal lover, and has five dogs ranging in size from a Maltese to a Golden Retriever. She appreciates music and enjoys shopping, movies and time with friends. Her hobbies include cooking and needlepoint.

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Awards & recognition

The year before her Olympic win, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Lipinski the 1997 Female Athlete of the Year. Lipinski is particularly proud of the recognition she has received from fans. In 1999 and 2000 she was voted Best Female Athlete at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In 1999, she won Best Female Athlete at the inaugural Fox Teen Choice Awards. She received similar awards from Teen People and Teen magazine. She has been recognized by the American Academy of Achievement, the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Foundation and many other organization. In 2006, Lipinski was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

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Philanthropic work, endorsements, and publications

Regardless of the other commitments in her life, Lipinski makes it a priority to donate her time and financial support to a number of organizations.

With Shaquille O'Neal and Denzel Washington, Lipinski is a national spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She is also a spokesperson for the campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the Childhood Leukemia Foundation. Lipinski is also involved with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's anti-drug campaign. Her anti-drug public service announcement aired nationwide on TV and in theaters in 2000. Tara has also been on the runway for Limited Too!.

She is also dedicated to helping children in need, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Children's Circle of Care, the philanthropic organization for children's hospitals nationwide.

Her portfolio of endorsements includes McDonald's, Charles Schwab, Chevrolet, Snapple, DKNY, Minute Maid, Capezio, Mattel, Campbell's Soup and others. Tara has two books now in print: Totally Tara - An Olympic Journey and Triumph On Ice.