Tara Lipinski said she likes to have a clean competitive record, and six of this season’s top U.S. singles skaters helped ensure the 1998 Olympic champion and 1997 world champion maintain that record as Team Tara won the first, and potentially only, Las Vegas Invitational, which aired Sunday on NBC. The competition was recorded two days after Skate America ended, using the same venue, on Oct. 26.
The event, created by U.S. Figure Skating and HomeLight to present skaters with an additional opportunity to compete and earn prize money during the pandemic, pitted Team Tara against two-time Olympian Johnny Weir’s Team Johnny with three men and three women per team.