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Tara Lipinski Interview

Here is an interview with Tara Lipinski on The Celebrity Cafe (via Lifeskate).  She talks about her rededication to skating as the central focus of her life. 

TheCelebrityCafe: You made some comments a couple months back that you were looking to get back into figure skating. How serious were you about this?

Tara Lipinski: Well, very serious. I skated my whole life. I was on the ice at 3. When I was 21, I decided I wanted to take a little break. I didn’t really know how long, I just knew that I wanted to have a normal life. [I wanted to] have a home base. It was great, I had as much as a normal life as I could [have]. Of course, I was itching to get back into the sport. I feel like a year and a half ago, I decided that I wanted to. I wanted to be involved in many ways. I got back on the ice a little bit this past year. Mainly, I just started commentating, which really threw me back into the sport full force. It’s been a lot of fun.

I don't have much of an urge to watch Lipinski skating exhibitions (not really a big fan of those in general, anyway) but I am glad she's been commentating.  I really enjoyed her at the worlds.  My favorite part is how frustrated she gets when the skaters aren't skating up to their potential - to be honest, not many people can get away with that, but Lipinski had nerves of steel pretty much throughout her career so she does. 

There does seem to be a bit of revisionist history going on with Lipinski's answers.  She says she just needed a break - not that she was injured or anything like that.  But, as a former avid reader of Lipinski's website, I am pretty sure a major impetus for the skating break was so that she could focus on becoming a major actress.  In this interview, she almost makes it seem like the acting jobs were just a whim that fell into her lap: "Well, I lived in Los Angeles. So when acting roles would come up, I would have a blast doing them. It was a little out of my element. It was fun and a challenge. But I always knew skating was [my calling card]."  Hmm...I don't really remember it like that, but whatever.  I guess the material point is that she isn't pursuing acting anymore.

Lipinski seems to have a great attitude about the sport and her place in it.  I'm excited she's been around the sport again for the past few years.