Tara Lipinski on Olympics Figure Skating Drama and Russian Teens

[Sylvia]

The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/2018/03/tara-lipinski-figure-skating-olympics-johnny-weir.html

Alongside her co-host and BFF Johnny Weir, Tara Lipinski’s refreshingly candid Olympics commentary has helped breathe new life into the sport of figure skating. Fresh off the plane from South Korea, the Olympic gold medalist turned commentator talks to the Cut about her daily routine in Pyeongchang, her unique partnership with Weir, and how she manages live-TV pressure. She also dishes on Nathan Chen’s “disastrous” program, the intense gold-medal showdown between Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, and how she felt about I, Tonya.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Thanks for this.

Just gotta love Tara!

She has always been articulate. I remember when she won US Nats, and they interviewed Nicole and Tara. Nicole sounded like she was a kid, and Tara sounded so mature.

 

[AlisonS]

I love having Tara there commentating. She does a fantastic job, is very knowledgeable, and her relationship with Johnny is fun!

 

[Lacey]

I hope a lot of people see this. Tara comes across as thoroughly knowledgeable and professional, and also as sweet and charming. Good for her!

 

[kittyjake5]

Great article! But if I hear "at the end of the day" one more time I am going to scream.

 

[dramagrrl]

Articulate?? Tara?

I, um... guess people have different opinions of what "articulate" means.

 

[blademate]

I spoke to their coach, and she opened up to me about how Evgenia’s really struggling with the fact that she lost this event and struggling with confidence whereas Alina’s so young and she’s more excited to see the McDonald’s in the Olympic Village than really knowing that she’s at an Olympic Games. It was fascinating to see two skaters that were equally good, looking at the Olympics through different eyes, yet who both have such magic to their skating and are fierce competitors.

1. No chance Tara actually spoke with Eteri so freely. Maybe Johnny through his Russian connections, but Eteri isn't making time for Tara.

2. Alina was just excited to see McDonalds? That's an NBC storyline if I've every heard one. Take a look at this documentary where she reveals the pressure of trying to win competitions to support her family. Pretty sure she understood what a big deal the Olympics were...

Maybe if Tara ACTUALLY did her own research, instead of depending on hired help to watch practices, find articles, etc. she'd know her shit. And maybe she'd know that 3-jump combos aren't called "sequences" in this system.

 

[ToFarAwayTimes]

The two Russian skaters who won silver and gold, Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, were a really interesting story. As a skater, I almost couldn’t imagine being in their positions.

 

[mag]

I am still in shock that she has a binder. Tara, the 1980’s are calling, they want their “binder” back

 

[berthesghost]

I am still in shock that she has a binder. Tara, the 1980’s are calling, they want their “binder” back

shes a child of the 90s so I just assume it’s a Lisa Frank trapper/keeper

 

[fsfann]

I'm sure Mitt Romney could help with binders..

 

[nubka]

I am still in shock that she has a binder. Tara, the 1980’s are calling, they want their “binder” back

What do they call it now-a-days?

 

[jenniferlyon]

2. Alina was just excited to see McDonalds? That's an NBC storyline if I've every heard one. Take a look at this documentary where she reveals the pressure of trying to win competitions to support her family. Pretty sure she understood what a big deal the Olympics were...

That story sounds like they tore a page from 1990 when McDonald's opened its first restaurant in the Soviet Union and there were lines all around the place. I can't imagine a Russian kid from this generation making a big deal over McDonald's. At least, not a Moscow kid. Maybe if Alina lived and trained out in the sticks somewhere...

This also reminds me of when the American TV cameras would follow Katarina Witt, Katia Gordeeva, or Oksana Baiul into shopping malls and similar Western institutions to emphasize their bleak, deprived childhoods. ("This poor child has never seen the inside of a Chuck E. Cheese until now! Isn't America wonderful?")

 

[overedge]

At the end of the day, if someone falls three times, we can’t just compliment them and say, oh it doesn’t matter, they’re still a great skater.

Well, yes, you can. If they had great performances during the rest of the year, you should say that, rather than saying they fell down a lot, which most viewers can figure out for themselves

 

[snoopy]

The McDonald’s in the Olympic village thing does make it sound like she made the whole thing up. Unless they have a McDonald’s dance club in there or something.

What do they call it now-a-days?

A laptop.

 

[Coco]

Well it is free...I know I'd get excited about a free McDonald's

 

[Wyliefan]

I can't find it again now (maybe @Sylvia can work her magic and find it!), but there was a post way back at the beginning of the Olympics about Alina's excitement over the McDonalds in the village, and there was a bit of discussion about it. It's certainly not something Tara and NBC just made up.

 

[olympic]

Maybe Tara used 'McDonalds' as a filler for any attraction at the Olympic Village (?), meaning that Zag was interested in exploring the concept and various aspects of the Olympic Village, not necessarily 'McDonalds'. People throw at examples in conversation like that all the time and they get it, but the reader / listener doesn't always.

 

[berthesghost]

Or maybe Eteri is like Nadya and told Tara the McDonald’s story just so she could smugly laugh at her behind her back like nadya did her poor dumb classmates (or were they coworkers! I forget)

 

[mag]

What do they call it now-a-days?

Many things, maybe an iPad Pro?

 

[MacMadame]

Or maybe Eteri is like Nadya and told Tara the McDonald’s story just so she could smugly laugh at her behind her back like nadya did her poor dumb classmates (or were they coworkers! I forget)

Or maybe they read the same story @Wyliefan did with actual quotes from Alina.

It's you guys who are putting the "wide-eyed Russian who never saw McDonalds" spin on this. Tara never said that. She said Alina was excited by the experience and gave that as an example. Even US athletes have remarked about having McDonalds right in the village in interviews. Apparently, it's exciting to them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Justathoughtabl]

I don't get the dislike for her. Tara seems like a kind and lovely person who works very, very hard at whatever she's doing. Good for her.

 

[peibeck]

I don't think it's the flip remark about McDonalds, but stating that Alina was too young, inexperienced, naive, or whatever she meant to realize she was even competing in the Olympics that makes Tara sound like a complete idiot to me. Also, she surely knows Alina is the current World Junior Champion, so it isn't like she really came out of nowhere.

Compared to Tanith Belbin White's exemplary play-by-play we have a much better gauge of who the best ice skating commentator is in the U.S. right now.

 

[mollymgr]

This article was supposed to be more about Tara and less about the Russians or anyone else. It was for those who forgot about her Gold winning performance replayed numerous times on NBC over the last couple months.

 

[WildRose]

I don't think it's the flip remark about McDonalds, but stating that Alina was too young, inexperienced, naive, or whatever she meant to realize she was even competing in the Olympics that makes Tara sound like a complete idiot to me. Also, she surely knows Alina is the current World Junior Champion, so it isn't like she really came out of nowhere.

Compared to Tanith Belbin White's exemplary play-by-play we have a much better gauge of who the best ice skating commentator is in the U.S. right now.

One would think that if there was anyone who had an understanding of what it is like to go to the Olympics and win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 15, it would be Tara Lipinski.

 

[skatingfan5]

One would think that if there was anyone who had an understanding of what it is like to go to the Olympics and win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 15, it would be Tara Lipinski.

Not to mention winning over your biggest rival, who was a countrywoman. As was quoted earlier, Tara "almost couldn't imagine" that situation.

 

[Enero]

I don't get the dislike for her. Tara seems like a kind and lovely person who works very, very hard at whatever she's doing. Good for her.

Agreed. Unfortunately there are those who will forever dislike her for beating Kwan in Nagano and screaming about it.

What I liked most about that article is what she said about her personal life and marriage. Despite what sounds like a very busy career, it sounds as if she’s enjoying married life. Granted they’re still in the honeymoon phase only having been married 7-8 months, but she sounds very happy.

 

[overedge]

FWIW I think many sportscasters still use paper in binders for their background notes when they are on air - at least several do in baseball. Paper doesn't crash, you can mark the sections with Post-its to find something quickly, and you don't have to open new screens or files to look something up.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Agreed. Unfortunately there are those who will forever dislike her for beating Kwan in Nagano and screaming about it.

And this is just as fecking old. It is possible to criticise Lipinski and it have nothing to do with Kwan.

 

[Justathoughtabl]

FWIW I think many sportscasters still use paper in binders for their background notes when they are on air - at least several do in baseball. Paper doesn't crash, you can mark the sections with Post-its to find something quickly, and you don't have to open new screens or files to look something up.

I'm not a sportscaster but I'm in a job where I have to have a lot of reference pieces close at hand. I have a number of them printed out and in a...binder. It's easier sometimes than looking in a hard drive or on the cloud.

Tara said she "couldn't imagine" the rivalry and then said Evgenia and Alina had the same coach, so maybe that's part of why. Also: "Because Alina was 15, I thought that I would relate to her in such a unique way because it was pretty similar to what happened in ’98. But, at the same time, it’s very different because Michelle and I had two and a half years of rivalry where we would go back and forth, competition after competition. There was quite the buildup. It’s so different than this rivalry just because Alina was a junior and five months ago, no one even knew her name."