A Q&A WITH TARA AND JOHNNY Dressed for success TARA AND JOHNNY RAMPING UP THE FUN-METER
Nine days before the start of the 2017 Pru- dential U.S. Championships, SKATING mag- azine caught up with NBC’s star figure skating broadcast team of Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir for an entertaining Q&A. Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic champion,
and Weir, a two-time Olympian and three-time U.S. titlist, happened to be at their respective homes in Los Angeles and New York, running errands and tying up loose ends before the com- petition in Kansas City. “We both went to the vet today,” Weir said.
“Our dogs are having little checkups.” Weir’s dog is a Japanese Chin named Tema, while Lipinski’s dog Dublin is a flat-coated retriever. Tema, Weir said, “is the king. He rules my entire life.” Dublin (Dubby), meanwhile, just returned from a family vacation in Montana, where he got his first taste of snow. Lipinski and Weir have become house- hold names since bursting onto the scene together as NBC figure skating analysts with Terry Gannon at the 2014 Olym- pic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Teir raw chemistry, unpredictable wardrobes and entertaining and informative analysis have been hits with fans across the world. Teir popularity from those
Games has vaulted the former champion skaters into the strato- sphere of pop culture. Tey have worked the Kentucky Derby as fashion correspondents, inter- viewed movie stars on the red carpet at the Academy Awards,
talked to players at the Super Bowl and even struck a chord with their canine-loving fans at the National Dog Show. Here’s a peek into the lives and careers of these popular TV personalities and best friends.
SKATING: Tara, you mentioned that you’ve been busy with wedding planning. (She’s mar- rying Todd Kapostasy on June 24, 2017.) Can you share any details?
TARA: My dress is being cus-
tom-made by Reem Acra, which is exciting. We are getting married in South Carolina. I’ve had a home there for about 11 years. Johnny is one of my bridesmen.
JOHNNY: I’ll be there, crying and passing out Kleenex. I have to say that despite it being a lot of work, she’s keeping a real calm head about it and taking it on like such a champ.
SKATING: With the U.S. Championships lat- er this month, what is your preparation like for a championship-caliber event?
TARA: We put so much preparation into
every event, whether it’s a Grand Prix or the exhibition. It’s funny, we do our own research and we are always up-to-date on competitions and what’s happening with any new news, but the thing I love is that somehow we are always on the same wavelength in terms of what we are thinking and what our predictions are. I think that’s nice for the broadcast, because when we get together it seems very seamless.
JOHNNY: We start watching
skating when it becomes available in the summer, with YouTube videos of the top skaters. We pay attention to everything, because not only do we have to be skating experts, we
28 FEBRUARY 2017
PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC SPORTS GROUP
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