The Gold-Medal Soap Actress

The characters on soap operas are often skating on thin ice, or facing problems of Olympic proportions. However, The Young and the Restless has one actress with the gold medals to prove she can handle both.

In the CBS soap, Olympic skater Tara Lipinski plays a pre-med student who counsels a friend through a troubled relationship. The producers learned she was a fan of Y&R, and gave her a guest-starring role.

"It's a challenge," Lipinski told CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell on CBS This Morning. "You have to memorize your lines, and I work with an acting coachÂ… It's fun, but once I get out there, I try to just put myself in the mood, and kind of like skating, you have to just, at the moment, get into it and do it."

She says everyone in the Y&R cast has made her feel very welcome.

Lipinski is still skating competitively, but says she loves working in daytime television. "I'd like to try some acting in other things," she told CBS. "I don't want to quit skatingÂ…but I think it's a great challenge on the side."

So, at the age of 17, Tara Lipinski finds herself both an Olympic gold medalist and a star on the nation's hottest soap.

"I can't really explain," she admits. "I guess a lot of people always tell me that I'm more grown up than my age, but, I don't know, I feel my age sometimes. And other times, I feel like I have to be a little more responsible."