Triumph on Ice

by Tara Lipinski

The world title...the U.S.  national title...Tara Lipinski took the skating world by storm when she captured the gold at both prestigious championships at age 14.  Now Tara reigns as today's youngest and most spectacular figure skating champion.  Her dazzling triple loop-triple loop combination--the first ever performed by a woman or a man in competition--has become her trademark jump.  And Tara's artistry and exuberance always shine through.  At every performance, the crowd goes wild! Overnight, Tara Lipinski has become the adored star of figure skating, and she is now poised to seize a medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

In her autobiography, Triumph On Ice, Tara talks about her love of skating; the hours of practice, her friend Todd Eldredge and their coach Richard Callaghan; her family; and her many accomplishments outside the skating world.  Tara Lipinski's enormous talent and golden triumphs have propelled her to figure skating's premier spot.  As the song she uses in her favorite exhibition routine says, she's "walking on sunshine."

Genres: Figure Skating, Sports, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Biography Memoir

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but it left me feeling lazy and unambitious.

[Emily Wahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this autobiography was a four star book, because it told me the story of Tara's life in detail. I thought this book was to entertain, inform, and to persuade. This book showed what Tara's life was like in an interesting, and fun way. I liked that this book was not very long. I learned a lot about Tara's life in this book. This book also taught a lesson that you can beat whatever goal you have.

When Tara Lipinski was very young she saw these athletes standing on podiums clutching flowers. She wanted to be just like them, on a podium getting a medal, and flowers. So first Tara started to do roller skating, and she loved it. Tara got so good at roller skating she started to enter competitions. She won more than fifty plaques, and medals doing roller skating when she was only 9. Then,Tara's mothers friend thought Tara would be good at ice skating. Tara's mom knew that if Tara tried ice skating and loved it that she would have to get up very early and take her to the class. But, Tara did tried ice skating. Tara slipped and fell all over the ice (mom was kind of glad) but she got better and she never gave up. Next thing you knew Tara was going to ice skating practices, and competitions all over the world. After a lot of hard work and perseverance Tara became the youngest figure skating champion when she was only 14!

[Marissa Farhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Triumph on Ice was a very interesting book. It was very fun to read because Tara Lipinski wrote it about herself. I did get bored at a few moments, but other than that it was a good book.
Triumph on Ice was all about Tara Lipinski and her life, mostly her ice skating life. I learned all about her thoughts during her competitions, her skating schedule, her coaches, the sacrifices her family had to make, and her hard work and effort to get to the top at the Olympics.
I would recommend this book to any girl who likes to ice skate or who would want to learn how to ice skate. Don't miss out on this one!

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I’ve read Tara’s book (the first time was in 1998, shortly after it was released.) This is a one-day read, I finished the entire thing on June 10, (Tara Lipinski’s birthday, in fact.) While the writing is obviously that of a child dictated to an adult, one gets a great sense of the joy, pride, and reward of the glamorous sport of figure skating as it was in the 90s. Tara Lipinski is no athlete writing just for the sake of fame: she is truly a prodigy, with her historical young age of winning the US Championships and Worlds. The book, written in 1997, leaves open the tantalizing question: “Will she win a metal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics?” You bet she did!!!

[Surreysmum · Rating 2 out of 5]

The notion of an autobiography of a 14-year-old rather boggles the mind, and my congratulations to the publishers for extending this one to 116 pages (including the obligatory glossary of skating terms). The tone of the prose is convincingly adolescent, as are the concerns (outside of landing the triple-triple combination, of course). I imagine her young fans treasured this volume; as a grumpy old adult, I at least find the colour photos attractive.

[Colleen Rue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tara and believe she is an exellent role model for skaters young and old.I really enjoyed this book and learning about her life.Tara would've been a winner to me even if she had'nt won that gold medal.I plan on getting a copy of this book from Amazon.

[Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago. I thought the pictures inside were a cute touch, loved the frog collection. :)

[Rylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was just an easy read but it was interstimg

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was good

[Brooke Hunter]

brooke

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing as she was fourteen when she wrote this book, or at least told the story to her ghost writer, I can understand why it has a very juvenile tone to it. But I also will take into account that Tara Lipinski is not an author nor is she trying to be.

This book was great for the deeper dive it takes into her everyday life and her skating career up to the point this book was written. It was a more in-depth look into the figure skating world and the competitions and it was nice to see the prof of the way figure skating as a sport was hyped in the 90s (now it doesn't get that many spectators at the arenas).

Because she is fourteen, this book reads exactly as it should. It has very much the feel of a young teen telling you about their everyday life and how, in her case, she misses her dad because her and her mom live in a different state to be able to accomplish her skating dreams. The photos are an nice touch as well.


Overall, if you like figure skating, the Winter Olympics Tara Lipinski, or just sports and athlete biographies in general I would recommend this one.

[Stasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

While watching some of this year's Olympics, been inspired to read a few biographies of figure skaters. Honestly, these athletes are really convicting to me, just the insane amount of diligence and dedication, plus they really seem to have no fear when it comes to some of the feats they do... Incredible!!