She learnt how to figure skate from Philadelphia coaches and has had several different coaches throughout her competitions, figure skating tours and shows.

She won the Olympics 1998 ladies singles where she won a gold medal in Japan just at the age of 15 years. This made her the youngest person to win a worldwide figure skating championship. Tara is a 2 time champion in Champions series final in 1997 to 1998 and the 1997 United States Champion.

Lipinski began ice skating in 1988, learning technique initially from roller skating coaches in the Philadelphia area. Her first major competition was the 1990 Eastern Regional Championships for roller skating where she finished second. At the 1991 United States Roller Skating Championships, she won the primary girls freestyle as a nine-year-old.

In 1991, her father's job required the family to move to Sugar Land, Texas. However, training facilities were not available there.

In 1993, Lipinski and her mother moved back to Delaware, where she had trained before. She later moved to Detroit, Michigan, to train with Richard Callaghan. Lipinski first came to national prominence when she won the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival competition, which at the time was a junior-level competition. She became the youngest ladies figure skating gold medalist as well as the youngest athlete in any discipline to win gold. Later that season she placed fourth at the 1995 World Junior Championships and second in the junior level, behind Sydney Vogel, at the 1995 U.S. Championships. Lipinski was coached by Jeff DiGregorio at the University of Delaware By 1995, she was the subject of a great deal of media attention, coined "Tara-Mania" by the media. 

In late 1996, at the U.S. Postal Challenge, Lipinski became the first female skater to land a triple loop jump combination, which became her signature element.

In early 1997, Lipinski unexpectedly won the U.S. Championships and, at 14, became the youngest person to win the title ahead of Sonya Klopfer who won it in 1951 at the age of 15. Lipinski also won the 1997 Champion Series Final, again becoming the youngest female ever to win the title. She went on to win the World Championships, again becoming the youngest person to win the title.

The following season, Lipinski finished second to Michelle Kwan at Skate America and, while suffering from a bad head cold, to Laetitia Hubert at Trophee Lalique. With Kwan sidelined due to a toe-related stress fracture injury, Lipinski defended her Champion Series Final title (now known as the Grand Prix Final).

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Lipinski skated her short program to music from the animated movie Anastasia, placing second to Kwan.She became the youngest ladies' Olympic figure skating champion and the youngest individual gold medalist.

In 1998, she got a lot of acting, touring, and public engagements which required constant travelling.

Television and film career

Lipinski has made several television appearances, which have included guest roles on a number of prime-time shows (Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Touched by an Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Malcolm in the Middle, Veronica's Closet, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Early Edition, 7th Heaven, and Still Standing), as well as a cameo in the theatrical film Vanilla Sky. Lipinski also played a brief supporting role on The Young and the Restless in 1999, starred in the TV movie Ice angel in 2000, and was cast in the independent film The Metro Chase. 

In October 2013, it was announced that Lipinski would be a commentator and analyst on NBC, NBC Sports, and Universal Sports during the Sochi Winter Games. As a result of positive reviews for the event, Lipinski and fellow analyst Johnny Weir were invited to appear as fashion commentators for Access Hollywood at the 86th Academy Awards with host Billy Bush. In September 2014, Lipinski and Weir were promoted to NBC's primary figure skating broadcasting team with Terry Gannon after more than a decade of Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, and Tom Hammond at the helm.