Tara Lipinski has come a long way from winning gold at the 1998 Olympics. It took years of sweat,
practice, and tears for her to ascend to that level of athletic greatness.
Here's a look at her stunning transformation, from a little kid with big dreams to living legend.
Lipinski was born on June 10, 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and soon thereafter, she moved with her family to Sewell, New Jersey. In 1984,
she watched the Olympics for the first time, and she immediately became enamored with the
idea of becoming a champion herself. As she revealed to the dentistry magazine Dear Doctor,
"My dad would let me stand on a little Tupperware container for the national
anthem. I was very young, so I don't think I really knew what was happening."
The medal ceremonies were also a big deal to young Tara, as she noted,
"It just seemed so big, and I loved when these athletes stood up there
with their hand across their heart and the national anthem would play."
While Lipinski skates so well on the ice that you'd think she started practicing in utero,
she actually got her start in a slightly different sport. She wasn't quite a baby at the time,
but she was pretty close, as she was only 3 years old when she started roller skating,
and she had a pretty youthful reason for getting into it. As she told CY Interview in 2002,
"I started roller skating just because I was pretty active as a kid,
and there was this program if you were a kid and you went for a day,
you got a free Care Bear and I loved Care Bears. I went to the roller range and it said in fine print
ten skating lessons after that you get your free care bear so I got hooked after that."
"So this was the 80s, and, you know, free Care Bears were-
would be an awesome thing for a little kid."
While Lipinski proved to be a natural at roller skating, that ultimately wasn't her true calling,
though it still took her a little while before she made the switch to
ice skating. Of course, as we all know now, she fell in love with her new chosen sport.
Lipinski eventually started training in nearby Delaware, but then a wrench was
thrown into the works, as her oil executive father was transferred to Houston for work,
so the family packed up and headed to the Lone Star State in 1991. That was fine,
but there was one big problem, as they couldn't find a decent place for Tara to keep training.
So she and her mom made the tough decision to return to Delaware while
her dad stayed behind in Houston. As she recalled to Dear Doctor,
"It was very difficult, and I know those years were so hard on my mom.
I would talk to my dad every night, but I didn't see him."
It was certainly challenging,
but Lipinski knew that there was a good reason for the sacrifice, as she noted,
"I think they both really believed in me and in my dream."
Eventually, Lipinski and her mom moved to Detroit in the hopes of
recovering after a tough performance at the world junior championships in 1995,
and that's where she started training with a coach named Richard Callaghan.
As Lipinski's profile in the ice skating world rose, so too did the scrutiny from the media.
Sometimes that meant that she had to deal with cruelty from reporters, who would comment on
her diminutive size instead of her performance on the ice. As she told Cosmopolitan in 2018,
"I'd read really harsh headlines — [words] that hurt someone who was 13,
14, 15 years old. My parents would try to hide things like that from me,
but the skating world is small and word gets around."
Fortunately, Lipinski had fierce support from her parents,
who worked to protect her body image. As she explained,
"My coach would weigh other skaters, but my mom refused to let me be weighed. When
she saw other skaters restricting their diets, she tried to hide it from me."
Lipinski didn't develop any eating disorders, but she did pay close
attention to what she was eating as she went through puberty. As she recalled,
"I kept eating what I was eating and, slowly, I was gaining weight
because I started to hit that time in my life. Did I have an eating disorder?
No. Would you say I thought [about my diet] more than a normal person? Yes."
Once Lipinski started training with Richard Callaghan, it really took her skating to the
next level. After coming in third place at the U.S. Championships at the tender
age of 13 in 1996, she went on to clinch gold at the World Championships in 1997.
There were high hopes the following year at the U.S. Nationals, but then she suffered a
heartbreaking fall during her short program. As she recalled to Cosmopolitan in 2018,
"That was the lowest point [in my career]. I made a silly mistake and ended up on my
butt with my legs over my head and that image showed up on every newspaper the next day."
Lipinski was utterly crestfallen and worried that she'd blown her big shot. As she put it,
"That night I couldn't stop crying, I was just so scared that I wouldn't go to the
Olympics. I was like, 'I've worked way too hard to let everything go in four minutes.'"
But despite the stumble, Lipinski ultimately did qualify for the 1998
Olympic team alongside teammate Michelle Kwan, and the best was still yet to come.
After years of big sacrifices, intense conditioning, and hours upon hours upon
the ice, Tara Lipinski headed to the 1998 Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan.
She wasn't old enough to drink, vote, or even drive, but at only 15 years old,
she beat out the competition and realized her lifelong aspiration
of winning an Olympic gold medal. As she recalled to Sports Illustrated in 2018,
"It was such a surreal moment that it didn't feel real or like it happened because you
work day in and day out, and you're thinking about this one goal and then the clock goes
from 11:00 to 11:01 and all of a sudden, you have a title of being an Olympic champion."
On that day, Lipinski became the youngest individual woman to ever win the top figure
skating award at the Olympics. As she reminisced to Sports Illustrated,
"It means a lot to be an Olympian. I'm obviously so grateful and feel so lucky
I was able to achieve my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.
It really is so special to participate in an Olympics."
"Can't believe it's been 20 years since you, you won, but congrats on all."
"What happened?!"
"What happened?! What happened?!"
After clinching the gold, Lipinski found herself at a crossroads. She dabbled in TV, appearing on
such shows as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Malcolm in the Middle.
She also became a professional skater and toured with Stars on Ice. But she never returned to the
Olympics, even though she was so young the first time she competed. There was a reason for that,
as she had an injury that required hip surgery. As she explained to CY Interview in 2002,
"That was the reason why I turned professional. It was one of the reasons because it would be
impossible for me to keep going at the rate I was [...] I have a prolonged professional
career now which I am so grateful for, but yeah I deal with pain in and out everyday."
Eventually, Lipinski realized that she needed to step back
from her professional duties. As she told Cosmopolitan in 2018,
"I [...] didn't want to just skate forever and stay on tour. I had never taken more
than four days off in my life, so I decided to take a break and officially stop skating.
I had my first real relationship, went on vacations, and just experienced life."
After Lipinski spent a few years having fun and enjoying new experiences,
she found herself ready to get back to work. But she worried that whatever she did next wouldn't
compare to the high that figure skating brought her. As she told Cosmopolitan,
"I was scared I'd never find it again."
Fortunately, though, Lipinski suspected that she might be able to find a new home for herself as a
commentator, so in 2009 she offered her services to IceNetwork. It proved to be just the place for
her, and by 2012 she was working for NBC Sports and NBC Universal. As she put it to Cosmopolitan,
"I found my new high! There's just something about broadcast, especially live commentary,
that's exhilarating. Having to articulate stories and thoughts on the fly is fun and exciting."
You can't talk about Tara Lipinski without mentioning her work husband,
best friend, and partner-in-crime, fellow figure skating alum Johnny
Weir. They were both aware of each other during their competitive years,
but it wasn't until they ran into each other while commentating that they realized just
how well they complemented each other. They ended up becoming so close that they eventually
asked if they could broadcast together as a pair. Lipinski explained to GQ in 2018,
"It was just one of those instant connections. And
we said: Why aren't we doing this together? So we asked if we could."
After getting the green light to team up, Lipinski and Weir quickly became broadcasting icons.
By the 2014 Winter Olympics, they were friends for life. As Lipinski told GQ,
"On air and off air we just started to bond. It's like a long-lost soul
mate that I met late in life. I can't imagine my life without him."
Nowadays, Lipinski and Weir are quite possibly the most famous figure skating commentators working,
and their fans simply can't get enough of them.
"We sat in the booth, and I don't know what happened, but we try not to think about it.
We just keep doing the same thing."
While Johnny Weir may be Tara Lipinski's work husband, he's not her actual husband. He is,
after all, openly gay and even more openly fabulous. But Lipinski isn't just lucky in
friendship, she's also lucky in love, as she married sports producer Todd Kapostasy
in 2017 after two years of dating. As she gushed to People Magazine that year,
"It was the best day of my life. Obviously winning an
Olympic gold medal for my country in 1998 was a very proud moment for me,
but nothing competes with finding someone you love to spend the rest of your life with!"
Lipinski and Kapostasy tied the knot on June 24, 2017 in Charleston,
South Carolina. They said "I do" under a giant canopy of hydrangeas and roses,
which sounds just divine. Lipinski slayed in a hand-embroidered strapless gown with a lace
skirt designed by Reem Acra, along with a Laura Basci detachable 20-foot tulle train. Weir was
of course in attendance at the ceremony, as he served as Lipinski's "bridesman."
"Johnny has always been the perfect gentleman, and he's always taking care of me."
After the big day, Lipinski and Kapostasy took off
on a seven-week honeymoon around the world. According to Lipinski,
"It was a fairy tale come to life. I felt like I was living in the moment with all
of my friends by my side and marrying the love of my life — it was the best day of my life."
Tara Lipinski has accomplished a lot in her life, and she has plenty to be proud of.
And with all her accomplishments, she's also had to learn how to be a role model, with plenty of
aspiring skaters looking up to her as an example. As she confessed to CY Magazine back in 2002,
"It is weird to think of myself as changing skating or [as a role model] because I look
up to so many different people. I do realize I am a role model and totally flattered by it,
and I really just try to be myself. I just try to be myself and you know, do what my
parents would be proud of me [for doing], and hopefully I am setting a good example."
"Tara taught me to ice skate, because that is her language of care."
We'd have to say, the past few decades have proven the success of Lipinski's approach.
And there's still plenty of time for her to accomplish even more in her life, so
we really can't wait to see what she tackles next!
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