Janet Lynn's parents enrolled her in a dancing class when she was young girl, but she hated it because she was so shy. In the meantime, she taught herself to skate backwards and dancing lessons were abandoned for skating lessons.

She entered a competition for the first time when she was seven. A year later she won the Upper Great Lakes novice championship. From that time, she moved steadily up the competitive ladder and was almost always one level above her age. She won the national junior championship when she was twelve, finished fourth in the national senior championship at thirteen, and was a member of the 1968 U. S. Olympic team at fourteen.

By then she had dropped her family name, Nowicki. Skating as Janet Lynn, she won five consecutive U. S. senior titles, from 1969 through 1973. However, she suffered misfortune in international competition. She won a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics after falling during her free skating program, and she fell twice during her short program at the 1973 world championships and finished second as a result.

Lynn signed a three-year, $1.4 million contract with the Ice Follies in 1973. Respiratory problems, which had troubled her throughout her career, forced her retirement before the term of the contract. After she married and had three children, doctors discovered that she suffered from a variety of allergies. The problem was brought under control, and Lynn returned to skating. She won the first U. S. professional championship in 1983.