There are many classic games in the history of the Winter Olympics, and many legendary athletes have emerged, and the female figure skater we want to review today has a very short career, she retired at the age of 15, but she created miracles in her career, becoming the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics, she is the American Tara Lipinski.
Lipinski's career was brilliant enough, but also accompanied by controversy, she won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Hirano, reversing the legendary athlete Kwan Ying Shan, and on this day, she was only 15 years old and 255 days old, and she became the youngest athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics to win a gold medal in individual events, a record that has not been broken until now.
In addition, it is even more hotly discussed that Lipinsky announced his retirement immediately after winning the championship and permanently left the professional arena.
Petite beauty on the ice
Lipinsky's full name is Tara Kristen Lipinski, she is 1 meter 47 meters tall, weighs 36 kilograms, and is a petite beauty on the ice.
Born in Philadelphia, USA in 1982, he learned roller skating at a young age and began to switch to figure skating at the age of 6. Figure skating is clearly more suitable for Lipinski, who has already won the 4th place in the World Junior Figure Skating Championships at the age of 12, which can be said to be a young success.
At the age of 14, Lipinski won the World Championships, she is also the youngest world champion in the history of figure skating, this record will never be broken, because the later ISU has ruled that under 15 years old can not participate in the World Championships, so Lipinski "forever" the honor of 14 years, 9 months and 12 days old.
Possess a "trick"
In 1998, Lipinski participated in the Winter Olympics, when she was not yet 16 years old, but the title of World Champion attracted a lot of attention, especially her "Mars Jump".
The so-called "Mars jump" refers to the high-difficulty action of the joint jump after the outer three-week jump and the outer three-week jump, and the then 15-year-old Lipinsky was also the only female athlete in the world who could make this difficult move.
Winter Olympics reverse Guan Yingshan;
At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Lipinski's biggest opponent was teammate Guan Yingshan and Chen Lu of the Chinese team.
In the short program, Lipinski scored 2.0 points, ranking second, behind Guan Yingshan.
Free-skating, backwater Battle Lipinsky staged a super difficult "Mars Jump" that conquered everyone.
Six of the nine referees at the Hirano Winter Olympics gave her first-place score for her brilliant performance.
In the end, Lipinski won the gold medal by defeating teammate Guan Yingshan with a total score of 2.0 points. Guan Yingshan silver medal, China's Chen Lu bronze medal.
Lipinsky was only 15 years old and 255 days old when she won the title, and she became the youngest athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics to win a gold medal in an individual event.
Stunned after winning the championship;
When 15-year-old Lipinski saw the score after her free skating performance, she seemed to be in disbelief with her eyes wide open and her eyes fixed on the screen. The feet kept moving, and you could see Lipinsky's nervousness at the time.
When the gold medal was secured, Lipinski began to be ecstatic, and in a later interview, she talked about her mood at the time, saying, "I don't care how stupid I was at the time, this time I won, the Winter Olympics changed my life, I am very sure." 」 ”
Honors added
Lipinski won the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics, which led to her being named "America's Best Female Athlete" of the year by the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1998.
It's a huge honour, said Lippinsky, who was interviewed: "It's a lofty award, and I'm really happy to be selected among all the female athletes in the United States. ”
Retired after winning the championship
I thought that as the world champion and the youngest Winter Olympic gold medalist, Lipinsky would start his own figure skating legend, but what he did not expect was that after the end of the Hirano Winter Olympics, Lipinsky immediately announced his retirement, and her reason was also direct: the ultimate goal was completed ahead of schedule.
From then on, Lipinsky stopped competing professionally and only participated in commercial performances.
Controversy
Her decision caused great controversy, after all, Americans are very fond of figure skating, they did not expect the 15-year-old Lipinsky to be so "unmotivated". She was angrily denounced by the outside world as a "person who only loves money", "no artistic pursuit" and so on.
At that time, Lipinsky was very aggrieved, and later she said: "Of course I am very hurt, I can't get rid of these pressures." But I'm a man of his own accord. I knew I had to be strong. I know that people who like me don't want me to leave the arena, but people who criticize me don't think about things from my perspective. Of course I'm still a kid, but they haven't been practicing alone on ice for 2 years like I did, and they can't be at home with dad for 5 years. I think my decision was the right one and I never regretted it. ”
This is the story of Lipingsky, who won the World Championship at the age of 14 and the Winter Olympic gold medal at the age of 15, creating his own history. Retiring at the peak and being brave enough to be yourself is also the embodiment of Lipinsky's true temperament.