Tara Lipinski facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tara Lipinski
Lipinski at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
Born	Tara Kristen Lipinski (1982-06-10) June 10, 1982 (age 43) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Figure skater Actress Sports commentator Film producer
Spouse(s)	Todd Kapostasy ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	1
Tara Lipinski Personal information Country represented  United States Began skating 1988 Retired 2002

Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former figure skater. She is also an actress, sports commentator, and film producer. Tara was an amazing competitor in women's singles. She won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics. She was also the 1997 World champion.

Tara holds records for being the youngest single skater to win a U.S. Nationals. She was also the youngest to become an Olympic and World champion in figure skating history. She was the first woman to land a triple loop-triple loop jump combination in a competition. This was her special, signature jump. Starting in 1997, Tara had a friendly rivalry with fellow skater Michelle Kwan. This rivalry was often talked about in the news. It ended when Tara won the gold medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.

Tara stopped competing in figure skating in 1998. She performed in live ice shows until 2002. Later, in 2014, Tara became a main figure skating commentator for NBC. She works with sports commentator Terry Gannon and her good friend, figure skater Johnny Weir.

Tara's Early Life and Training

Tara Kristen Lipinski was born on June 10, 1982, in Philadelphia. Her parents are Pat and Jack Lipinski. She spent her first few years in Sewell, New Jersey. When Tara was two, she watched the 1984 Summer Olympics. She stood on a bowl and pretended to be a gold medalist!

At age three, she started roller skating. By the time she was nine, she was a national champion in her age group. That same year, she began figure skating. She used her roller skating skills on the ice rink. Later, she focused only on figure skating. She took lessons at the University of Delaware.

In 1991, Tara's family moved to Sugar Land, Texas. This was because her father got a new job. She trained at a public rink there. Two years later, Tara and her mom moved back to Delaware. They wanted to train with coach Jeff DiGregorio again. In 1995, Tara and her mom moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. There, she trained with coach Richard Callaghan.

Tara's Competitive Skating Journey

Starting Out in Skating

In 1994, Tara won a silver medal. This was in the novice women's group at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. When she was 12, she became the youngest person to win a gold medal at the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival. She then won first place at the Blue Swords competition in Germany. This was her first international event. The media started to notice her after this win.

As a junior skater, she placed fourth at the 1995 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She also came in second at the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In late 1995, she placed fifth at the 1996 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. After this, she started working with coach Richard Callaghan. In January 1996, Tara won a bronze medal as a senior skater at the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She then qualified for the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships. She placed 15th at this big event.

Becoming a Champion (1996–97)

Tara and her coach worked hard to make her skating look more grown-up. She took ballet classes. She also hired choreographer Sandra Bezic. Sandra helped create programs that looked joyful and mature. In late 1996, Tara added the triple loop-triple loop jump combination to her routine. This made her programs much harder. She was the first woman to land this jump combination in a competition.

Tara competed in the ISU Champions Series (now called the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating). She placed second at Skate Canada. She was third at Trophée Lalique. She also came in second at the 1996 Nations Cup. She then won the gold medal at the Champion Series Final. She beat Michelle Kwan by landing more successful jumps.

Lipinski's rival Michelle Kwan

In February 1997, Tara was only 14 years old. She became the youngest skater to win a U.S. Championships title. She broke a record that had stood since 1951. She beat Michelle Kwan, who was the champion from 1996. Kwan made some mistakes in her free skate. This opened the door for Tara to win. Tara skated a perfect program with seven triple jumps. This included her special triple loop-triple loop combination. This competition marked the start of the Kwan–Lipinski rivalry.

A month later, Tara won the 1997 World Championships. She became the youngest female skater to win this event. She was a month younger than the previous record holder, Sonja Henie. Tara landed seven triple jumps. She also did two double Axels. Her performance was called "light, airy, and nearly flawless." She opened with a double Axel and landed her triple loop-triple loop combination. The final results were very close. Tara won overall because she received more second-place votes in the free skate.

The Olympic Season (1997–98)

Between seasons, Tara grew taller and turned 15. She continued to make her programs more advanced. She took daily dance classes. She chose movie music for her programs. The American news often talked about "the Kwan–Lipinski rivalry."

At the 1997 Skate America, Michelle Kwan beat Tara for the first time. Tara came in second place. Tara also placed second at Trophée Lalique. She then won the 1997–98 Champions Series Final. This was her first clean program of the season. Tara and her coach were concerned about how judges were scoring her jumps. They said her jumps were being marked lower than before.

At the 1998 U.S. Championships, Tara came in second behind Kwan. Tara fell on a triple flip attempt in her short program. She called this "the lowest point" of her career. But she recovered well in her free skate. She performed seven triple jumps, including her trademark triple loop-triple loop. She climbed from fourth place to second overall.

Winning Olympic Gold

U.S. Figure Skating chose Kwan, Lipinski, and Nicole Bobek for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Tara and Kwan were both favorites to win the gold medal.

In the women's event, Kwan won the short program. Tara came in second. Tara's short program was technically harder than Kwan's. Her free skate was also very difficult. It included her triple loop-triple loop combination and seven triple jumps. This was the most difficult program in Olympic history at that time. Tara received high scores for her presentation. Kwan also skated almost perfectly, but Tara's technical difficulty gave her the edge.

Tara was the youngest Olympic gold medalist in figure skating history. She was the sixth American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating. She was two months younger than Sonja Henie when she won in 1928. This broke a record that had stood for 70 years.

Tara's Life After Competing

Lipinski in December 1998

In March 1998, Tara decided not to compete in the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships. She had some health issues and was very tired. In April, Tara announced she would become a professional skater. This meant she could not compete in the Olympics again. She wanted to end her family's separation caused by her skating career. She also wanted to focus on other goals, like going to college.

After the Olympics, Tara toured with "Champions on Ice." She visited 90 cities in the U.S. In August 1998, she joined the cast of "Stars on Ice." She wanted to improve her artistic skills. Tara also wrote two books in 1998.

In 1999, Tara performed with "Stars on Ice" again. She also won the World Professional Figure Skating Championships. She was the youngest skater to win this title. She also appeared on TV shows and became a spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Tara had hip surgery in 2000 when she was 18. She had a hip injury that had been misdiagnosed for years. The surgery helped her a lot. She became a spokesperson to raise awareness about blood clots after surgery. She was able to return to touring. In 2002, Tara toured with "Stars on Ice" in 61 cities. Then, she retired from skating.

Tara's Skating Style

Tara's skating was influenced by Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton. Her style was often compared to Michelle Kwan's. Tara was known as a "consistent jumper." Kwan was seen as a more "sophisticated artist." Tara's coach said her style was "wonderful." He added that she was "turning easy, jumping easy."

Some people criticized Tara's jumps. They said they were "small and technically flawed." But others said she pushed the sport forward with her difficult jumps. Her spins were very fast. She also had "musicality and poise" beyond her years. In 2018, the president of U.S. Figure Skating said Tara increased the difficulty level of Olympic skating.

Tara's Broadcasting Career

After retiring from skating, Tara traveled and tried some acting. But she decided acting "just wasn't my thing." In 2009, she started working as a commentator for skating competitions. She began working for Universal Sports in 2010. Then she joined NBC and NBC Sports in 2011. She commented on most international figure skating events.

Tara teamed up with Terry Gannon and Johnny Weir for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. They became NBC's second team of figure skating commentators. They had "instant chemistry" and worked very well together. Their broadcasts were very popular. After the Olympics, they became NBC's main figure skating commentators. They also hosted the closing ceremonies for several Olympic Games.

Access Hollywood hired Tara and Johnny Weir in 2014. They analyzed fashion at the 86th Academy Awards. Tara also worked as a social media and fashion reporter for NBC Sports. She covered events like the National Dog Show and the Kentucky Derby.

Tara approaches broadcasting with the same passion she had for skating. She spends many hours researching skaters. She learned how to commentate by listening to tapes of past broadcasts. She calls her broadcasting career her "second dream." Viewers have different opinions about Tara and Johnny. Some call them "Olympic darlings" who are knowledgeable and fun. Others find them distracting. But many, including Scott Hamilton, call them a "phenomenon."

Cosmopolitan magazine says Tara and Johnny's style is honest and colorful. They try to make figure skating easy to understand for everyone. They focus on the interesting parts of the sport. They were praised for how they handled the situation with Russian skater Kamila Valieva at the 2022 Olympics. They chose to simply announce her jumps. They then shared their opinion that she should not have been allowed to compete.

In 2018 and 2019, Tara and Johnny hosted shows on Food Network. In 2022, Tara co-hosted Wedding Talk. That same year, Tara and her husband, Todd Kapostasy, co-produced a documentary series. It was called Meddling: The Olympic Skating Scandal That Shocked the World. This series looked at the skating controversy at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Tara said they wanted to create a deep look at what happened.

Tara's Personal Life

Tara is a Catholic. She has a special devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux. She believes St. Therese helped her win the Olympics in 1998. She also credits St. Therese for her recovery from hip surgery. During the Olympics, she wore a medal of St. Therese. She also placed a statue of St. Therese near the ice before every competition.

Tara married sports producer Todd Kapostasy in June 2017. They met at the 2015 Sports Emmys. Johnny Weir was a groomsman at their wedding. Tara has talked about her journey to become a parent on her podcast. In October 2023, Tara and Todd welcomed their daughter through surrogacy.

In September 2020, Tara shared that she was diagnosed with endometriosis. This is a health condition. She had surgery to treat it. She said her surgery was successful. She wanted to help others learn about this condition.

Tara's Records and Achievements

• Youngest athlete (12 years old) to win a gold medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival (1994)
• First woman to complete a triple loop-triple loop combination in competition (1996)
• Youngest woman (14 years old) to win the World Figure Skating Championships (1997)
• Sixth American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating (1998)
• Youngest skater (16 years old) to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships (1999)
• Youngest person inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame (2013)

Figure Skating Programs

Competition and exhibition programs by season 

Season	Short program	Free skate program	Exhibition program
1994–95	Cirque du Soleil	Samson and Delilah Composed by Camille Saint-Saens	N/A
1995–96	On the Town Composed by Leonard Bernstein	Medley: Speed Composed by Mark Mancina The Prince of Tides Composed by James Newton Howard	On the Town
			Medley: Speed The Prince of Tides
1996–97	Little Women Composed by Thomas Newman Choreo. by Sandra Bezic	Much Ado About Nothing Composed by Patrick Doyle	"Walking on Sunshine" Performed by Katrina and the Waves
1997–98	Anastasia Composed by David Newman Performed by Liz Callaway Choreo. by Sandra Bezic 'Tracks used' "Once Upon a December" "Journey to the Past"	Medley: "Prelude and Opening" From The Rainbow Composed by Carl Davis "Scenes of Summer: Festival" Composed by Lee Holdridge Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra Choreo. by Sandra Bezic	Anastasia ("Journey to the Past")

Competitive Highlights

Professional Skating Wins

Television Appearances

See also

In Spanish: Tara Lipinski para niños