1974 - Jack Lipinski and Patricia Brozyniak (Tara's parents) wedding on May 4 in Bayonne, New Jersey.
1982 - Tara Lipinski is born on June 10 in Philadelphia. Tara's parents named her after Tara the plantation in Gone With the Wind. (It's Tara's mom's favorite name)
1984 - Tara sees her first Olympics on TV.
1985 - Pat takes Tara roller skating for the first time. (Tara hates the ugly brown rental skates)
1989 - Tara's parents take her ice-skating for the first time. Tara's awful for the first hour only. After, she starts taking lessons at the University of Delaware.
1991 - Jack gets a big promotion, so Tara and her parents move to Sugar Land, Texas. Tara and Pat have to get up at 4:00 AM to go to skating lessons.
1993 - Tara and her mom move to Delaware where their sleeping habits get back to normal. Tara begins home tutoring through a private school. Tara's dad stays in Texas with the dogs but visits Tara and Pat oftena s possible.
1995 - Tara gets a new coach: Tichard Callaghan. Tara and her mom moved again, but this time to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
1996 - Tara wins a bronze medal at the United States Figure Skating Championships. American officials decide that Tara earned the right to compete at the Worlds.
Tara's first Worlds as a senior; and she finished fifteenth.
At the U.S. Postal Service Challenge in Philadelphia, Tara becomes the first woman ever to land a triple loop-triple loop combination in competition.
1997 - Tara wins the United States Figure Skating Championships in Nashville. With her medal, Tara goes on a trip to Switzerland to compete in the World Championship.
In Switzerland, Tara skates two strong programs with no major mistakes. Tara wins the World Championship. At fourteen, Tara is the youngest figure skating champion ever!
1998 - At the United States Figure Skating Championships, Tara competed for one of three spots on the U.S. Olympic team. Tara had a difficult short program and placed fourth, but on the long program she ended up sencond. Japan watch out for Tara Lipinski!
At the Olympics in Nagaro, Tara skated a strong short program and long program. Six judges awarded Tara first-place. Tara is the youngest Winter Olympic gold medalist in history! |
