Tara Lipinski stands four feet, ten inches tall, but no one can measure her heart. In 1997 she defeated Michelle Kwan, the overwhelming favorite, to win both the U.S. and World Figure Skating Championships. But those accomplishments were only a beginning, as Lipinski thrilled the crowd at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, with a near-perfect performance that made her the youngest-ever female figure skating gold medal winner.

Growing up

Born to skate

Tara Lipinski was born June 10, 1982, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the only child of Jack and Pat Lipinski, who lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia. Lipinski began roller skating at the age of three, then took to the ice when she was six. She had many other interests--including horseback riding, playing the piano, baton twirling, and modeling--but skating quickly became her first love.

In 1991, Jack Lipinski accepted a transfer to Houston, Texas...