Tara Lipinski's Net Worth Proves This Skater Made A Name For Herself On & Off The Ice

She may have retired from professional figure skating nearly 20 years ago, but Tara Lipinski's reported net worth proves the 35-year-old can certainly hustle outside the rink. Lipinski made history as the youngest person to ever win the gold medal in the Winter Games when she was just 15 in 1998, according to USA Today. Now, she's known for her honest sports commentary alongside fellow skater Johnny Weir. She transitioned from performing on the ice to being deemed the "future of sports commentating" by Forbes, and as she continues doing fulfilling work, her bank account is likely in a great state.

While there's no official confirmation as to how much her net worth was in 2017, numerous outlets have claimed that Lipinski's net worth around $4 million or above. In 2014, she was named by TSM Plug as one of the top 10 richest figure skaters of all time, with a reported net worth of about $4 million (which was predicted to soar much higher had she competed in additional Olympic games). And, in the two years since, Lipinski has had a lot of other engagements that could have increased her annual salary.

Her history with sports goes way back. According to her online biography, Lipinski broke multiple records by age 15. In additional to her gold medal triumph, she had two successive Champion Series Finals wins and was named Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. At 17, she became the youngest athlete to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships. In 2006, she also set the record for the youngest-ever inductee into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Since, she's incorporated her love of the ice to on-camera hosting and she hasn't looked back.

Lipinski has brought her A-game to the mic as a sports commentator for NBC, NBC Sports, and Universal Sports — and these gigs are known for having nice paychecks attached with an annual salary of $18,824 and $75,754, according to Sports Management Degree Guide. She's also taken on the role as a TV analyst for events like the World Figure Skating Championships, the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, and the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships.

Now, Lipinski joins forces with pal Weir to provide commentary at the 2018 Olympics. Forbes called their style "extremely informative and fun, great chemistry, but not overbearing" with a "focus [on] making their commentary enjoyable for viewers, not about impressing the audience with how much they knew."

Meanwhile, PopCulture.com recently pointed out how Twitter keeps comparing their commentary to the Hunger Games. For instance, when skater Nathan Chen had a heartbreaking fall during the 2018 Winter Games, Lipinski called his performance "tentative and slow," while Weir said it was "the worst short program [he's] ever seen from Nathan Chen." But Lipinski stands by her objective to tell it how it is.

Although she has an obvious knack for it, Lipinski's TV experience expands far beyond commentating. In 1999, she had her own CBS special called Tara Lipinski: From This Moment On. Since, she's had cameos in shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, 7th Heaven, The Young and the Restless, and recently, Lip Sync Battle. She's also written two best-selling books: Triumph on Ice (1997) and Totally Tara (1998).

Overall, her love of performing is clear. “The line from competing and skating and then performing as a professional and becoming an entertainer/actor was just a natural progression for me,” she explained on her website. After all, she did recognize her desire to skate at the young age three.

She was determined from the get-go. When she was 9, she won the primary girls freestyle title at United States Roller Skating Championship, and at 13, she became the first female skater to land a triple loop/triple loop jump combination. The rest of her journey obviously made history books. Lipinski may no longer be competing for medals, but she continues to write her own history on her terms.