Tara was born on June 10th, 1982 to Jack and Pat Lipinski in Philadelphia, PA. She started off roller skating but switched to ice skating. After her father's work brought the Family to Sugarland, TX, her parents made the ultimate sacrifice.
In 1994, Tara became the youngest person ever to win a gold medal at the US Olympic Festival. Because of this, Tara's parents decided to hire an agent for her. It was a good thing they did, because the future would put Tara in the public eye.
In the 1995/1996 Tara skated as a senior for the first time. At Nationals, Nicole Bobek, the reigning champion withdrew because of an injury to her right ankle. America could send three ladies to Worlds this year. The question was, would Bobek receive a bye? That would depend on the third place finisher. Michelle Kwan skated beautifully and easily took gold. Tonia Kwiatkowski finished second with a strong performance. And out of nowhere, Tara Lipinski amazed the audience and the judges by finishing third. Nicole Bobek didn't get her bye. Tara had earned a spot on the World Team.
At Worlds, she finished 15th. Not bad for a fourteen-year-old, but not good enough for Tara. She was determined to improve.
In the months leading up to the 1996/1997 season, Michelle Kwan dominated the skating headlines. Her won at Worlds the year before has raised everyone's expectations of her. She was now under tremendous pressure, and it would take it's toll. Tara had improved a lot technically over the summer. She had a new weapon, a triple loop/triple loop jump, included in her technically demanding program.
Tara took second at Nations Cup and at Skate Canada, and third at Trophy Lalique, earning her a trip to the Champion Series Final. Tara won the Final. Later, at Nationals, Michelle Kwan had lost her love for skating and fell numerous times, leaving the door wide open for Tara. She easily skated through and won Nationals. Now, on to Worlds.
At Worlds, Michelle Kwan rediscovered her love for skating in the long program, but it was too late. A disastrous short program had placed her fourth. Tara was in first after the short. Michelle Kwan won the long program that night, but it wasn't enough to beat Tara. Tara Lipinski had become the youngest skater ever to win the World Championships.
But there were still complaints and accusations. People were saying that Tara would never have won if Michelle Kwan had been on top of things. She was being called robotic, meaning that she lacked artistry. So Tara was faced with yet another challenge. And how do you fix artistry problems? You go to Sandra Bezic.
Tara started the 1997/1998 season with a new program, and a new maturity. At Skate America, she finished second to Michelle Kwan. Later, at Trophy Lalique, she was upset by Laeticia Hubert. For some reason, Tara had been struggling a bit with her consistency. Well, there was a reason for that. At Lalique she had been sick, but skated anyway. Still, two second place finishes were good enough to get her to the Champion Series Final to defend her title. Then, Michelle Kwan shocked the skating world by announcing her withdrawal from the final due to a stress fracture in her left toe. With her biggest competition gone, Tara easily defended her title. But she didn't just defend it, she skated with beautiful artistry and textbook technique. Two strong programs gave Tara the confidence she needed going into Nationals.
However, at Nationals, she fell on her triple flip in the short program. Strong performances by Kwan, Bobek, and Kwiatkowski put Tara in fourth place after the short. The top three finishers would go to the Olympics. But on the night of the long program, Tara skated to near perfection. Michelle Kwan also skated her heart out and received first place with sixes all over the place. Tara easily placed second and earned her spot on the Olympic Team. Nicole Bobek finished third.
In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, it was all Michelle Kwan. Kwan was the favorite and everybody seemed to be counting out Tara, the reigning world champion. Both skaters had beautiful short programs at the Olympics. Tara landed her triple flip perfectly and could barely contain her excitement for the rest of her program. Going into the long program, Kwan was first, and Tara was second. Because of the way places are figured in skating, if you are in first, second, or third place after the short, winning the long means winning the gold. In other words, Tara and Michelle each controlled their own destiny.
Then came the draw for skate order. Michelle Kwan drew the worst spot, first in the final group. Tara drew a better spot. She was second to last in the competition. Michelle Kwan started out with a flawless program except for a tiny problem landing her triple flip. However, if you have a good eye for watching skating, you could tell that there was something missing. Kwan received low technical marks, but 5.9's across the board for artistry. While most people believed that the competition had already been decided, Tara's fans stared at the technical marks and realized that the judges had left room, and lots of it. Tara had a good chance.
Later that night, Tara stepped onto the ice feeling complete happiness and confidence. She had had the time of her life at the Olympics, and nothing would make it more perfect than a gold medal. As her music started, the world held it's breath and watched as Tara put more feeling and emotion than ever before into her program. And of course, her jumps were right on. As the final notes sounded, it was obvious that something very special had just happened.
But would Tara be rewarded for it? All year she had been getting unfairly low marks, would it still happen here? The technical score went up and Tara's marks were extremely high. Tara's face showed the anticipation as she waited for the scores that would determine her future, the artistic scores. What seemed like an eternity later, they went up. Tara had won. Her screams told it all. She had done it and it was enough to bring anybody to tears. For the first time all year, Tara had been rewarded for how good she was. She deserved it more than anyone else. It should also be mentioned that this was the first time ever that Tara and Michelle had both skated clean programs in the same competition. And Tara had won, making all the reporters who had counted her out eat their words.
Having won every major title there is, Tara made the decision to turn professional to spend more time with her family and to be able to skate without the pressures of Olympic-eligible competitions. She has been as successful capturing pro titles as she was at capturing amateur ones.
Tara also found out that there can be a lot of fun that comes with being a professional Olympic Gold medalist. She became one of the feature skaters with Stars on Ice, and she even tried her hand at acting in TV shows like Touched by and Angel and Days of Our Lives.
As for the future, Tara doesn't know what she wants to do. She's got countless options ahead of her. Right now, she's enjoying being a normal kid. Well, a normal kid who just happens to be a figure skating legend. Keep it up Tara. We believe in you.
Born: June 10, 1982-Philadelphia, PA
Hometown: Sugarland, TX
Training Town: Detroit, MI
Coach: Richard Callaghan
Height: 4'11"
Weight: 75 lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Interests: Music, tennis, swimming
1998 U.S. National Championships-2nd
1998 Olympic Winter Games-1st (gold)
Tara Lipinski-Olympic Champion
Tara Lipinski (Tara2)
Tara Lipinski: A Dream Come True
Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski-The Ice Princess
Charisma's Tara Lipinski Page
Tara Lipinski Fan Site
Tara Lipinski-The Golden Girl
Wayne's Tara Lipinski Site
Tara Lipinski-The Power of the Dream
Tara Lipinski-A Fan Page
Absolute Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski-Star on Ice
Touring with Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski-Queen of the Ice
Tara K. Lipinski
Champion of Ice
Tara Lipinski: On Skates and Wings
Tara Lipinski: Perfection on Ice
Tara Lipinski: Big Smile & Big Heart
Tara Lipinski: The Golden Gal
Magical Tara Lipinski
