Tara Lipinski is one of my favorite skaters, but I haven't heard anything about her in a long time. Can you give me some information?
—Annie H., Indiana
Two months after her Olympic victory in 1998, Tara Lipinski announced she was turning professional. But Lipinski, 19, had to forgo competitions in 2000 due to surgery to remove scar tissue from her hip and to repair a mouth injury. Seven weeks after surgery, Lipinski skated in Stars on Ice broadcast on television earlier this year. Despite her youth and because of it, Lipinski has broken records. She became the youngest female to win an Olympic gold medal, breaking Sonja Henie's 70-year-old world record by two months, when she won the gold at age 15 in 1998. Lipinski set another record in 1997 by becoming the youngest world champion figure skater. She also is the youngest U.S. National Ladies Figure Skating champion. In 1996, she was the first skater to successfully do a triple loop-triple loop combination in competition. In addition to going pro, Lipinski has launched an acting career, appearing in television shows such as Early Edition, Touched by an Angel, and The Young and the Restless.
