Early career Lipnitskaya began figure skating at age four when her mother took her to train under coach Elena Levkovets. She also trained in
rhythmic gymnastics to improve her flexibility. She skated in
Yekaterinburg at DYUSSH Lokomotiv until 2009, when she and her mother began to discuss her future, concluding that they should relocate for her skating career. They moved to
Moscow where Lipnitskaya joined
Eteri Tutberidze's group in March 2009. She was fourth on the senior level the following season at the
2011 Russian Championships. She also competed at the
2011 Russian Junior Championships but withdrew from the competition after the short program.
2011–12 season: International debut Lipnitskaya became age-eligible for junior international competition in the
2011–12 season. She debuted on the
Junior Grand Prix series at the Baltic Cup in
Gdańsk,
Poland, winning both programs to take the gold medal. At the Junior Grand Prix Final in
Quebec, Lipnitskaya placed first in both segments to win the gold medal. Lipnitskaya won silver on the senior level at the
2012 Russian Championships, having placed third in the short program and first in the free skate. She later took gold at the
2012 Russian Junior Championships. At the
World Junior Championships, she won gold while achieving the junior-level ladies' record for the combined total and the free skate. She had no falls on the ice when competing during the 2011–12 season. Lipnitskaya was assigned to two
Grand Prix events. Having placed first in the short program and second in the free skate, Lipnitskaya won the silver medal at the
2012 Cup of China behind gold medalist
Mao Asada. Lipnitskaya qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Sochi, Russia, but withdrew due to injury. During training on 28 November, she lost balance on the entry to a spin, split her chin, and sustained a slight concussion.
2013–14 season: Olympic and European champion with
Evgeni Plushenko Lipnitskaya selected all the music for her 2013–14 programs by herself. She chose
Mark Minkov's ''You Don't Give Up On Love'' for her short program. At the
2013 Rostelecom Cup, she scored 72.24 points in the short program to take the lead. Despite losing the free skate to Italy's
Carolina Kostner, she still won the gold medal overall and qualified for the
Grand Prix Final. At the event in
Fukuoka,
Japan, she placed fourth in the short program, second in the free skate, and won the silver medal behind
Mao Asada. Lipnitskaya won the silver medal behind
Adelina Sotnikova at the
2014 Russian Championships, after placing second in the short and first in the free. In her
European Championships debut, she placed second to Sotnikova in the short program, first in the free skate, and scored a total of 209.72 points. Finishing ahead of Sotnikova and
Carolina Kostner, 15-year-old Lipnitskaya became the youngest European champion in ladies' singles and the first Russian to win the ladies' title since
Slutskaya eight years earlier, in 2006. at the
2014 Winter Olympic Games. Lipnitskaya was selected for the
2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi. The first skating event was the
team trophy, which allowed each team to make a maximum of two substitutions. The Russian team initially discussed assigning Lipnitskaya to the free skate and Sotnikova to the short program, but ultimately, it was decided that Lipnitskaya would skate both. However, Herber would have been too young to skate at the Olympics under modern rules, so her record is impossible to beat. A few weeks later, she made her World Championship debut at the
2014 World Championships in
Saitama, Japan. She placed third in the short program and second in the free skate earning 132.96 points, and won the silver medal. Her total score of 207.50 points placed her 9.19 points behind the gold medalist
Mao Asada and 3.67 ahead of the bronze medalist
Carolina Kostner.
2014–15 season: Struggles For the 2014–15 Grand Prix season, Lipnitskaya was selected to compete at the
2014 Cup of China and the
2014 Trophée Éric Bompard. The
International Skating Union fined her by deducting part of her prize money. Her results qualified her for the
Grand Prix Final in
Barcelona. In the final, she placed second in the short program behind Tuktamysheva. However, she struggled during the free skate, causing her to drop to fifth overall. At the
2015 Russian Championships, Lipnitskaya placed sixth in the short program and eleventh in the free skate, which resulted in ninth place overall. She was not selected to compete at the
2015 European Championships, preventing her from defending her title, nor at the
2015 World Championships. On 13 January 2015, after a meeting with
FFKKR officials, Lipnitskaya stated that this season was over for her and that she would recover and train for the next season. She also said that she intended to stay with her then-coaches. Her 2015–16 Grand Prix assignments were the
Skate America and the
Trophée Éric Bompard. She began her season with a second-place finish at the
2015 Finlandia Trophy. She placed fifth at the
2015 Skate America during the short program but dropped to seventh after struggles in the free skate, resulting in an overall sixth place finish. After the short program at the
Trophée Éric Bompard, she was in second place, but the competition was canceled due to the
terrorist attacks in Paris, which occurred only hours after the first day of competition concluded. On 18 November 2015, Lipnitskaya announced that she left her longtime coaches,
Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov, to move to train under
1994 Olympic champion,
Alexei Urmanov, in
Sochi. Then in December, she competed at the
Russian Championships, where she finished in seventh place after making several mistakes in the free skate. Following her placement at the Russian Championships, she was not selected to compete at the
European Championships. She then competed at the
2015–16 Russian Cup Final, where she placed first in the short program, and second in the free skate, resulting in a silver medal finish behind compatriot
Alena Leonova. Lipnitskaya competed at the
2016 Cup of Tyrol in
Innsbruck, Austria, despite her doctors recommending rest due to a hip injury. She won the gold medal, her first win at a competition in two years.
2016–17 season: Injuries For the 2016–17 season, Lipnitskaya was assigned to two ISU Grand Prix events, the
Skate America and the
Rostelecom Cup. She began the season at the
Ondrej Nepela Memorial held in
Bratislava, Slovakia. During the short program, her music was turned on before she got to her starting position, but the referee stopped the music and allowed her to restart. She won the short program but then placed fifth in the free skate. She won the silver medal overall behind teammate
Maria Sotskova. Lipnitskaya withdrew from the Skate America after a recurring injury. She still opted to compete at her second Grand Prix assignment, the
2016 Rostelecom Cup. In the short program, Lipnitskaya earned 69.25 points, and she went into third place behind compatriots
Elena Radionova and
Anna Pogorilaya. In the free skate, her leg injury aggravated her, causing her to stop just after the halfway point in the program. After negotiating with the judges and her coach, she was allowed to continue where she left off, but she was heavily penalized for the interruption. Her free skate score was only 79.21 points, making for a total score of 148.46, finishing in 12th and last place. Following training on 18 December 2016, Lipnitskaya slipped on a patch of ice, injuring her right hip and lower back. As a result, she withdrew from the
Russian Championships. President of the
Russian Figure Skating Federation,
Valentin Piseev, confirmed that Lipnitskaya had informed them of her decision in April and that August's announcement "did not come as a surprise". Despite being retired from competitive figure skating, she is still involved in the sport and teaches masterclasses for young skaters. In December 2020, Lipnitskaya joined the coaching staff of
Evgeni Plushenko's skating academy. == Personal life==