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American Morning

Gold Medalist Tara Lipinski Discusses Skating Scandal

Aired February 18, 2002 - 08:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, for the first time since they found themselves in the middle of the Olympic skating scandal, Canadian figure skaters, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, can look to the future, probably a future filled with lots of product endorsements. Can Wheaties be far behind?

In a special Olympic ceremony last night, they received their share of the gold medal for Pairs Figure Skating, sharing the stage with their Russian counterparts.

Joining us now from Los Angeles to discuss the skating controversy, former Olympic champion, Tara Lipinski -- thanks very much for being with this morning.

Were you surprised by the IOC's decision to award a second gold medal?

TARA LIPINSKI, FIGURE SKATER '98 GOLD MEDALIST: I was. I would have to say, you know, when they were going through discussions, I never thought they would do that. You know, it has never happened in skating. I was completely shocked. But I do support it in this one circumstance just because I think it shocked people. It shocked people to say that the committee takes this seriously, and they wanted to resolve it before it overshadows even more of the other events.

COOPER: Do you worry that it lessens the value of the gold in some way?

LIPINSKI: Well, I hope it never happens again. I hope this is the first and last time, because you know, a gold medal is so special. And I think, you know, giving away two, it takes away the integrity of the gold medal. You work your whole life for that one gold medal, not two.

COOPER: I've got to say, I don't really follow skating very much, but I was surprised at how much drama there is off the ice. I mean, has it always been like this? Has it always been this exciting? Was it like this when you were competing?

LIPINSKI: Well, I guess in skating, there has always been some sort of, you know, scandal or something that's been in the media, but you know, that's what I worry about too. With everything that's gone on, I worry about the audience and the public and the fans that are watching, thinking, oh, my gosh, is skating so corrupt with all of these scandals. And it's really not. That's more on the outside.

But the athletes and the skaters, you know, they -- you know, I remember when I was competing, I wasn't even thinking so much about the judges, because I knew it was always there. I knew that it was subjective, and that I had to go out and just, you know, skate my best.

COOPER: I suppose as you point out, it is a subjective sport. I mean, it's not a sport where there is a finish line and it's obvious, you know, in many cases who won and who lost. Is there any way, in your opinion, to fix what appears to be broken?

LIPINSKI: Well, it's really hard, but I hope that this decision has fixed some of it, just by the shock of doing it. So the judges know that this is for real, and when I go out there, I have to judge this fairly. But I think it's always subjective. You know, people have different opinions, different views on style of skating, and that has always been there. So you know, the skaters have to kind of accept that it's going to be there.

COOPER: You mentioned you worry about the impact this may have on skating. You know, there are some people, maybe some cynics, Jack, who would say, you know, this is a win-win for everybody. You know, the skaters getting a lot of attention. They both get gold medals. You know, ratings are great for NBC. Is this a win-win?

LIPINSKI: I mean, yes, it's great to have ratings for skating, so people, you know, watch the sport. But at the same time, you don't want them to watch it for the wrong reasons. It's a beautiful sport, and people work hard. They give up their whole lives for these Olympic Games, you know, and put everything they have into the judges' hands to decide what to do with it. But I just worry that the audience and the public think, you know, it's scandalous and it's corrupt. But for the skaters, it really isn't.

COOPER: You are now appearing in Target Stars on Ice. We are showing some video of that right now. What can these skaters expect to experience in terms of life after the Olympics?

LIPINSKI: Well, it's wonderful, and especially when you go out and you do the best you can do and you win an Olympic gold medal. It's, you know, your dream come true. It gives you so many opportunities to give back and to enjoy your skating. Now, I get to tour around the country and you know, stand in the middle of the ice and be surrounded by millions of fans, and it's incredible.

COOPER: Do you think, in terms of endorsements, these guys are going to be taking it in?

LIPINSKI: Well, I think even without them receiving the second gold medal, they would have, because of all of the -- they were in the media so much about it. And then a lot of the audience and the public just loved their skating and what they did that night and their personality. So either way I think, you know, that wouldn't have been a problem for them. COOPER: All right. Well, they made the cover of "Time" and "Newsweek" this week, and we thank you Tara Lipinski for joining us. It's nice to hear your perspective -- thanks a lot.

LIPINSKI: Thank you.

COOPER: All right.

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