Skating for the Gold

by Chip Lovitt

Profiles young American figure skating champions Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan, describing their lives on and off the ice while outlining their preparations for the 1998 Winter Olympics

Genres: Nonfiction, Figure Skating

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[R. G. Nairam]

Picked this up on a whim while shelving in the children's nonfiction section, and remembering how fond I was of Michelle Kwan in the early 2000s. Entertaining as a bit of a time capsule.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skating For the Gold is a cute story about two girls who want to win the same thing, figure skating world champion. But, only one can have it. the story goes back and forth between Michelle's life and Tara's life. the book was more of a non fiction book so it didn't have a strong theme but if i had to choose one it would be to never give up on something you realy want Because both the girls were told they couldn't win because of their age and that they were to young or too little, but they loved the sport so much that they never gave up on their dreams.

[Surreysmum · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a general overview of the setup for the 1998 women's Olympic competition, I suppose this isn't bad, but the devil's in the details, and boy are there some howlers in this one. Jumps are misidentified madly, in such a manner that one gathers the author really doesn't understand the significance of a double vs. a triple lutz (not to mention that he credits Tara with a triple loop-triple lutz combination - way to go, Tara!) Elvis Stojko, on a 1995 tour, is identified as the "future World Champion" (guess those first two just don't count…) Anyway, I'm sure the Michelle & Tara fan camps both had a ball dissecting this one.