BALTIMORE -- Tara Lipinski decided it was time to get a life and get reaquainted with Mom and Dad.

So

Lipinski's professional debut will come April 24 in South Carolina. (Allsport)

she turned pro.

The 15-year-old Olympics gold medalist said Tuesday that she was turning professional -- a move that makes her ineligible for future games and ends her rivalry with Michelle Kwan. She wants to train less so she can spend more time with her family.

"I think now, I'm going to go pro," Lipinski said on NBC's Today show. "And for one major reason, I think -- I really miss being home with my dad.

"I would love to go to the 2002 Olympics and try to win another gold," she said, adding that she would feel "almost a little greedy in doing that, especially to my parents, who have given up so much."

Lipinski will make her pro debut April 24 at Skate, Rattle 'n' Roll, a made-for-television event in Charleston, S.C.

THAT SHOW IS NOT sanctioned, and once she skates there, Lipinski would have no chance of competing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games to defend the title she won in Nagano, Japan, as the youngest individual gold medalist ever at a Winter Olympics.

The reinstatement window that applied to ineligible skaters before the 1994 Olympics no longer exists. It had allowed champions including Brian Boitano, Viktor Petrenko, Katarina Witt and Yekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov to return to the Lillehammer Games.

On Wednesday night in Baltimore, Lipinski begins the Champions On Ice tour featuring Olympic, world and national medal winners.

She is also scheduled to skate in the Hershey's Kisses pro-am in Springfield, Mass., on April 18, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Figure Skating Association and the International Skating Union.

"Now I'll have four-day weekends and be able to be with my family because they mean so much to me," she said. "I don't want to be 21 and not know my dad."

Richard Callaghan, Lipinski's coach, said he was surprised at the timing of her decision, but he understood it.

"I'm sorry to see her leave the eligible ranks," he said. ``She did a lot for women's skating. It would be nice to see her do more. She seems to want to do the pro circuit, maybe because there is less stress in training and so she can see her family more."

LIPINSKI TRAINED WITH CALLAGHAN at the Detroit Skating Club. Her mother lived with her in Michigan while her father stayed at their home in Sugar Land, Texas.

"I've accomplished my dream," she said. ``I think I need to give something back to them, so we can be a family again and really have that connection.

"I realized after Nagano how important it is to me to be with my mom and dad and be all together and have fun and go out to dinner and really be a family again. I owe that to my parents and myself."

After she skipped last week's world championships at Minneapolis, it became clear Lipinski and her advisers felt there was little to gain in remaining an Olympic-eligible skater.

Several agents estimated Lipinski could earn between $13 million and $15 million in endorsements after winning a gold medal.

Lipinski leaves amateur skating with a remarkable record. Not only was she the youngest Olympic figure skating champion, she was the youngest U.S. and world champion.

She is the best technical skater among the women, and her artistry improved significantly during the last two years.

HER DECISION TO FORGO FUTURE Olympics also means there will be no more showdowns with Kwan, the 17-year-old who won her second world title last Saturday. They met three times this season, with Kwan winning at the U.S. championships and at Skate America. However, Lipinski won the biggest prize at the Olympics, where Kwan was second.

In 1997, Lipinski dethroned Kwan as U.S., world and Champions Series champion.

Lipinski's jump to the pros further depletes the Olympic-eligible ranks. Although five-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge said he won't jeopardize his eligibility by appearing in non-sanctioned events, he won't skate at national and world events for the next few years. Instead, he will compete only in professional events recognized by the ISU.

Philippe Candeloro, the hugely popular bronze medalist at Nagano, has turned pro. So have Lu Chen, another two-time Olympic bronze medalist, and two-time Olympic dance champions Pasha Grishuk and Yevgeny Platov. Grishuk is pursuing a film career, too. Several other Olympic medalists, including men's champion Ilya Kulik and pairs winners Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev, also are considering turning pro.