63 Facts About Karen Chen

Karen Chen was born on August 16,1999 and is an American figure skater.

Karen Chen is a 2022 Olympic Games team event silver medalist, two-time CS US Classic bronze medalist, the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, the 2017 US national champion, 2022 US national silver medalist, and a three-time US national bronze medalist.

Karen Chen has competed at seven ISU Championships, achieving her best result, fourth, at two World Championships.

Karen Chen was born on August 16,1999 in Fremont, California to Hsiu-Hui Tseng and Chih-Hsiu Chen.

Karen Chen's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan.

Karen Chen has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who competes for the US in ice dance.

Karen Chen was homeschooled via Connections Academy in high school.

Karen Chen was admitted to Cornell University's School of Human Ecology for the Fall 2019 semester majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society on a pre-med track.

Karen Chen originally did not plan to take any gap years or defer her education while preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but decided to take a two-year leave of absence after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karen Chen's mentor is 1992 Olympic Champion Kristi Yamaguchi, who shares a hometown with her.

Karen Chen published a memoir titled Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice in November 2017, in which she revealed that she suffers from spondylolisthesis.

Karen Chen enjoys painting and is a fan of the Japanese character Totoro.

Karen Chen won gold on the national intermediate level in 2011 and then gold competing as a novice in 2012.

Karen Chen made her international debut at the 2013 Gardena Spring Trophy, where she won gold on the novice level.

Karen Chen won bronze in Riga, Latvia, followed by gold in Kosice, Slovakia, and qualified for the JGP Final.

Karen Chen withdrew from the junior event at the 2014 US Championships after placing fifth in the short program.

Karen Chen was awarded the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the 2015 US Championships, behind Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold.

Karen Chen was not old enough to compete at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships and was instead assigned to the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where she placed eighth.

Ahead of the season, Karen Chen tried 14 pairs of skate boots.

Karen Chen won bronze at her second CS assignment, the 2015 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December and finished 8th at the 2016 US Championships in January.

Karen Chen began her season at the 2016 CS US Classic, placing third behind Japan's Satoko Miyahara and the United States' Mariah Bell.

Karen Chen won the gold medal at the 2017 US Championships after placing first in both the short program and free skate.

Karen Chen set a new US record with her short program score of 72.82.

At the 2017 Four Continents Championships, Karen Chen skated to a twelfth-place finish.

Karen Chen rebounded at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships, placing fifth in the short program with a score of 69.98.

Karen Chen then placed sixth in the free program with a score of 129.31.

Karen Chen's placement, combined with a seventh-place finish from teammate Ashley Wagner, qualified Team USA three spots for the 2018 Olympics and 2018 World Figure Skating Championships.

Karen Chen began her season at the CS's US International Figure Skating Classic, placing 3rd overall for the second year in a row.

Two weeks before her first Grand Prix event, Karen Chen abandoned her "Carmen"-themed free skate program and replaced it with a program she choreographed herself, including music from the 1978 film Slow Dancing in the Big City.

Karen Chen competed in her second Grand Prix event at 2017 Skate America and placed ninth in the short program after failing to land a triple loop.

Karen Chen improved to eighth place after the free skating, from which teammate Ashley Wagner withdrew due to an ankle infection.

At the 2018 US Championships, Karen Chen placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate to win the overall bronze medal.

Karen Chen placed eleventh in the Olympics and withdrew from Worlds; she was replaced by second alternate Mariah Bell after first alternate Ashley Wagner declined the invitation.

Karen Chen trained with her younger brother, ice dancer Jeffrey Karen Chen, in Canton, Michigan during the two-month-long 2018 Stars on Ice tour.

Karen Chen later relocated with longtime coach Tammy Gambill from Riverside, California to Gambill's new training base at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado over the summer.

Karen Chen withdrew from early season events and her Grand Prix assignments, 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and 2018 Rostelecom Cup, following an injury during the off-season.

Karen Chen returned to competition at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy, where she finished ninth in the short program.

Karen Chen announced her subsequent withdrawal from the 2019 US Championships to focus on her health in early January.

Karen Chen later revealed that she had been suffering from a stress fracture in her right foot.

Karen Chen opened her season at the 2019 Philadelphia Summer International, where she won the silver medal behind training teammate You Young of South Korea.

Karen Chen then placed fourth at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International in Oakville, Ontario behind Rika Kihira, Evgenia Medvedeva, and Lim Eun-soo.

At her first Grand Prix event of the season and first major international event since the 2018 Olympic Games, 2019 Skate America, Karen Chen placed sixth in the short program and tenth in the free skate to finish eighth overall while battling a cold and sleep deprivation.

Karen Chen placed fifth in the short program and fourth in the free skating to finish fourth at the US Championships, behind Alysa Liu, Mariah Bell, and Bradie Tennell, despite not completing a triple-triple combination in either program.

Karen Chen's pewter is the fourth medal that she has won at the senior level.

Karen Chen was named as first alternate for the 2020 World Championships.

Karen Chen earned personal bests in all three segments to achieve a seventh-place finish at 2020 Four Continents Championships, her highest ever after previously placing 12th twice.

Karen Chen did not enroll at Cornell for her sophomore year, explaining that classes meeting only virtually meant "it wasn't worth paying full tuition and not having the whole college experience," and instead returned to training full-time in Colorado Springs.

Karen Chen placed fourth in the short program, underrotating the triple toe loop in her jump combination.

Karen Chen was second in the free skate but remained in fourth place overall.

At the 2021 US Championships, Karen Chen was fourth after the short program due to several under rotations.

Karen Chen placed third in the free skate with only one major mistake on her triple loop.

In March at the 2021 World Championships, Karen Chen skated two solid programs and placed fourth.

Karen Chen was fourth in the short program and sixth in the free skate.

Karen Chen's placement, combined with Tennell's ninth-place finish, earned the United States three spots for the 2022 World Championships, as well as the opportunity to secure three spots for ladies' singles at the 2022 Winter Olympics via the Olympic qualifying event.

Karen Chen then competed at the 2021 World Team Trophy, where she finished sixth in both segments to help Team USA win the silver medal.

Karen Chen began the season at the 2021 CS Autumn Classic International, where she unexpectedly finished off the podium in fourth place, behind Cypriot Marilena Kitromilis and South Koreans You Young and Ji Seo-yeon.

Karen Chen was tenth in the free skate after falling twice and having several jumps called underrotated, and she dropped to tenth place overall.

Karen Chen reiterated afterward that she was working on translating her improved practices to competition.

Karen Chen was second in the free skate as well despite four underrotated jumps and took the silver medal, the only senior podium placement she had not previously occupied.

Karen Chen is the first US women's singles skater since Sasha Cohen in 2002 and 2006 to qualify for back-to-back Olympic teams.

Karen Chen ranked fifth, four ordinals below Russian skater Kamila Valieva, as a result of which the United States dropped behind the ROC team.

Karen Chen competed again in the free skating portion of the team event, earning 131.52 points for a fourth-place finish, and winning a silver medal with the US team.

Karen Chen placed eighth in the short program after singling her triple loop attempt.