Here's Why Tara Lipinski Retired From Figure Skating at the Age of 20

To those who don't even follow figure skating in the Olympics, the name Tara Lipinski likely rings a few bells. That's because in the '90s, she was a teenage powerhouse in the sport. She even won a gold medal at 15 in the 1998 Winter Olympics. So why, just a few years later, did Tara Lipinski retire so young?

By all accounts, her success came quickly, but that was because of lots of hard work as a child into her teen years. Figure skating full-time, however, isn't great for the body, even when you're young. Tara made the difficult decision to let go of her figure skating career before a lot of others might, but it was for her own well-being.

When Tara won her gold in the 1998 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest athlete to do so. Before that, she had spent years of preparation and in other figure skating competitions to prepare her for that accomplishment. Afterward, per Chron, Tara joined the Stars on Ice tour. It enabled her to pursue another kind of career in her sport.

At the time, in 1999, she said, per the outlet, that she had no regrets about "going pro" so young. But the following year, she made the difficult decision to step away from the sport for good. She went on the tour, but began to have serious hip pains. She underwent surgery, which left her unable to practice at full capacity.

Tara also developed arthritis, according to The Standard-Times. If she wanted to go back to the Olympics, she was legally unable to after she turned pro. NBC Bay Area reported that, after Tara made the shift to professional skater, she wasn't able to return for another Olympic Games event as a participating athlete.

In 2010, Tara found a new calling as a broadcast commentator for figure skating. She started out with Universal Sports and eventually moved to NBC and NBC Sports. For the official Olympics, Tara joined the NBC Olympic family to act as a TV commentator for figure skating in the Olympic Games.

Between returning from figure skating as an athlete and finding her footing (no pun intended) as a sports commentator, Tara found the time to get married and have a child. She met husband Todd Kapostasy in 2015 at the Sports Emmy Awards, per People. They got married two years later in 2017, and, in 2023, they welcomed their daughter together.

Todd is a film director and a producer. He has worked on commercials and documentaries. His website lists the documentary Rodman: For Better or Worse as one of his most notable projects. He also worked on ESPN's 30 for 30 show. Todd and Tara briefly hosted a podcast together called Unexpecting, and now, they both seem to keep busy with their daughter and their respective careers.