By her third birthday, future Olympic figure skating champion Tara Lipinski was convinced walking and running were inefficient ways of moving around. She preferred going faster. Roller-skating was the mode of choice. With wheels beneath her feet, Tara could fly. The fearless toddler eventually entered several age-group competitions, winning a regional championship in New Jersey by age 5. And Tara liked roller hockey even though it attracted more boys than girls. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Tara noticed how fast the kids on ice skates were going - Very.
Curiosity finally lured Tara onto an ice rink when she was 6 years old. Her dad, Jack, vividly remembers his daughter "flopping around" during that maiden voyage atop a frozen surface. Rather than make her nervous, Jack and Pat, Tara's mom, went indoors for hot chocolate. They returned a short time later to discover that the ice suited Tara to a tee. She might as well have been on roller skates. Everything came so naturally; she progressed through skating lessons in no time. The transition happened quickly. But no one could have guessed just how quickly ice skating would come to recognize the potential of a young girl named Tara Lipinski. In fact, Tara advanced from first lesson to national medalist in less than 6 years. After rising to the silver medal podium of the novice division, it was obvious that the Philadelphia-born Tara was blessed with above average skill and determination. This was a youngster, after all, who frequently rose as early as 3 a.m. for pre-dawn skating lessons after her family re-located to Texas, near Houston. Eventually, Tara went back to her former Delaware rink. In the summer of 1994, Tara brought new meaning to the "Spirit of St. Louis" with a show stopping performance at the U.S. Olympic Festival. At 12 years, 1 month, Tara became the youngest athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Olympic Festival. In 1995, Tara was already in the public and media spotlight. At the U.S. Championships in Providence, RI, she earned the junior silver medal and, a Providence newspaper declared her "the future".
This picture was taken from Tara Lipinski's official site. Totally Tara photo courtesy of Simon Bruty & Jack Lipinski.
The 1995-96 season saw Tara move into skating's senior division and also marked a change of scenery for Tara and her mom. They relocated to Bloomfield Hills, Mich. There, she would be coached by the acclaimed Richard Callaghan, whose students included national champions Nicole Bobek and Todd Eldredge. When she is not traveling to compete or tour, Tara's days in suburban Detroit are always busy and productive. She also enjoys family outings on weekends when her dad visits from Houston, where he is an oil executive. During the week, Tara receives daily four-hour tutoring and is proving to be as proficient at academics as she is at skating. Tara is an "A" student who faces homework in the evenings despite the additional demands of four, 45 minute training sessions spread over each day at the Detroit Skating Club. This disciplined lifestyle undoubtedly contributes mightily to Tara's competitive toughness. Her technical and mental preparation has been rewarded again and again over the past two seasons during a remarkable ascent to national, world and Olympic championships. "She's so far beyond where we thought she'd be," Jack Lipinski said in a recent interview with People magazine. "She's always rising to the occasion."
Against the measuring stick of history, Tara's accomplishments are staggering. Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi were great U.S. Champions, yet not one was a national medalist at 13 or a gold medalist at 14. During the early months of 1997 Tara earned titles and made history on what seemed like a weekly basis. The culmination of the 1996/97 season was at the World Championships last March in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Tara eclipsed a record that had endured 70 years. She replaced legendary Norwegian Sonja Henie as the youngest woman to be crowned the world's No. 1 skater, only a year after debuting at this competition with a 15th place finish. Tara landed her signature triple loop-triple loop combination jump and five other clean triples to finish ahead of reigning world champ Michelle Kwan. All of this came just one month after Tara secured her first national championship with the same seven-triple free program in Nashville, Tenn. It was in that event that she became the first woman to land a pair of triple loops in combination. Two weeks after Nashville, Tara won the Championship Series Final in Hamilton, Ontario, as a prelude to Lausanne. Rarely has an athlete opened an era in so dominant a fashion.
Tara entered the XVIII Olympic Games with two goals in mind: 1) becoming the youngest-ever gold medalist in Ladies Figure Skating and 2) Having a LOT of fun! She accomplished both goals during her stay in Nagano, and turned in one of the most amazing upsets in Olympic history, defeating her heavily favored teammate Michelle Kwan with a free skate of epic proportions and capturing the imagination and hearts of skating fans worldwide.
Tara's biography is taken from her official site. Please visit her site.TaraLipinski.Com
