{"id":10521,"date":"2017-12-22T09:43:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T14:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/?p=10521"},"modified":"2018-01-06T20:22:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-07T01:22:55","slug":"on-20th-anniversary-of-her-olympic-gold-medal-tara-lipinski-looks-ahead-to-new-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/2017\/12\/22\/on-20th-anniversary-of-her-olympic-gold-medal-tara-lipinski-looks-ahead-to-new-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"On 20th anniversary of her Olympic gold medal, Tara Lipinski looks ahead to new chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>By Maura Sullivan Hill, staff writer\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When Tara Lipinski won gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she was a mere 15 years and 255 days old, still the youngest individual Winter Olympic gold medalist ever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI watch Olympic athletes struggle through the next phase, and my age saved me a little bit,\u201d Lipinski said in a U.S. Figure Skating media call on Dec. 13. \u201cI was so young, not 23 or 24, and, at 15, I could have just started my life over, in a way, because of my age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">She turned professional following her Olympic win, touring with Stars on Ice from 1999-2002 and competing in professional competitions and made-for-TV events.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cWhen I decided to go pro, it was a time when skating was at the height of its popularity, coming off \u201994, with Tonya and Nancy. Everyone had their eyes on skating,\u201d she said. \u201cI had somewhere to put my competitive energy and focus, and I think that is where a lot of athletes feel a little lost, because their entire routine is gone [when they retire from Olympic competition]. I was lucky to have that transition to soften my life\u2019s journey into the next phase.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Still, like most 20-somethings, Lipinski said she wasn\u2019t sure what was next, once she decided to step off the ice and away from full-time skating. It was while watching a World Championships that she set her next goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI thought, \u2018There is no better job than that,\u2019 to be a part of your sport, but with a little less pressure,\u201d Lipinski said. \u201cAlthough I didn\u2019t realize that live television adds a lot of pressure!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">During Lipinski\u2019s skating career and for most of the 2000s, Dick Button, Sandra Bezic, Scott Hamilton, and Peggy Fleming made up the prime time figure skating broadcast team, whether it was the U.S. Nationals, Olympics, or World Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI didn\u2019t know if it was really going to happen because, especially in figure skating, the commentators stay in their seats in the booth for many, many years. So, to go after that goal, it\u2019s going to be another one of those things that\u2019s almost impossible,\u201d Lipinski said, much like her first goal of winning Olympic gold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a id=\"W9CwHuMRRAZNH2NM7ro4Mg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/514956808\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'W9CwHuMRRAZNH2NM7ro4Mg',sig:'43yyN1t5L0YxEz718kX6JnFdKNg_pz9H-zRxWll1pFY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'514956808',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In her skating career, Lipinski said she had an \u201call or nothing\u201d attitude, and she applied that same drive to broadcasting, working her way up by commentating skating events for Universal Sports and NBC Sports Network. In 2013, she teamed up with Johnny Weir\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">and the duo\u2019s commentary (and flashy, coordinating outfits) made a splash at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Along with Terry Gannon, Lipinski and Weir were the backup team in Sochi, providing commentary for the live broadcasts during the day, with the veterans on the prime time NBC broadcasts at night. But their commentary was such a hit among viewers that the trio was promoted to the prime time team for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"hSjiE3gaRYFEkzhrK14Mnw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/469544203\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'hSjiE3gaRYFEkzhrK14Mnw',sig:'yX5gW8tJsFZd3AJOCxDk1PMytv7EfHH0Dwvh7op3vmY=',w:'594px',h:'420px',items:'469544203',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Since Sochi, they have been providing commentary for the Grand Prix Series, U.S. Nationals, and the World Championships, as well as other events for NBC \u2014 including the Kentucky Derby, the National Dog Show, and the 2015 Super Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cGoing into this Olympics in South Korea it feels very surreal [to be on the prime time broadcast team], but it\u2019s also my 20<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> anniversary and feels like the start of this career that I\u2019ve always wanted,\u201d Lipinski said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And when Lipinski and Weir take their seats in the prime time booth at the Olympics for the first time, they\u2019ll have the support of one who came before them: Dick Button, the two-time Olympic Champion and legendary figure skating broadcaster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI think both of them are excellent, and together they make great music. I particularly like their costumes,\u201d said Button.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The high praise from Button is especially meaningful to Lipinski, who recalls being starstruck as a competitor, knowing that Button and company were commentating her performance. He\u2019s also an inspiration to her in this new role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI look up most to Dick Button. The way he brought his own personality into his commentating was something I always loved and enjoyed and it made it enjoyable for the viewers,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Lipinski will be in the broadcast booth for NBC at the 2018 U.S. Championships in San Jose from Jan. 3-7, 2018. She will also be honored as part of a U.S. Figure Skating celebration of Olympic anniversaries, alongside Button, Brian Boitano, and Peggy Fleming. Button is celebrating the 70<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> anniversary of his first Olympic gold medal in 1948, while it is the 30<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> anniversary of Boitano\u2019s triumph in the 1988 Battle of the Brians and the 50<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span class=\"s1\"> anniversary of Fleming\u2019s victory at the 1968 Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s Note: Figure Skaters Online&#8217;s Gina Capellazzi and Claire Cloutier, along with photographer Leah Adams, will be in San Jose for the U.S. Championships. Follow Figure Skaters Online on Twitter (@fsonline), Facebook (www.facebook.com\/fsonline), Instagram (https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/figureskatersonline\/) and on our website, www.figureskatersonline.com for coverage beginning January 2.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Maura Sullivan Hill, staff writer\u00a0 &nbsp; When Tara Lipinski won gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she was a mere 15 years and 255 days old, still the youngest individual Winter Olympic gold medalist ever. &nbsp; \u201cI watch Olympic athletes struggle through the next phase, and my age saved me a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10521"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10530,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10521\/revisions\/10530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}