Karen Chen

Personal life

Karen Chen was born in Fremont, California. Her parents moved to the U.S. from Taiwan. She has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who is also a figure skater. She is studying at home through Connections Academy.

Early career

Chen began learning to skate in 2005. She won gold on the national intermediate level in 2011 and then gold competing as a novice in 2012. The following season, she competed on the junior level at the 2013 U.S. Championships, placing fourth. She made her international debut at the 2013 Gardena Spring Trophy where she won gold on the novice level.

2013–14 season: Junior international debut

In the 2013–14 season, Chen received her first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignments. She won bronze in Riga, Latvia, followed by gold in Košice, Slovakia, and qualified for the JGP Final. While practicing a triple Lutz, she sustained a type three tibia fracture in her right ankle. The injury led her to withdraw from the JGP Final. Chen spent four weeks on crutches and resumed training in mid-December. She withdrew from the junior event at the 2014 U.S. Championships after placing fifth in the short program. At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, she placed sixth in the short program, ninth in the free skate, and ninth overall.

2014–15 season: First senior national medal

In the 2014–15 JGP series, Chen won bronze at Czech Skate and silver at the Croatia Cup, respectively. She was awarded the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the 2015 U.S. Championships, behind Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold.

2015–16 season: Senior international debut

Ahead of the season, Chen tried 14 pairs of skate boots. In September 2015, she finished fourth at the 2015 U.S. International Classic, an ISU Challenger Series (CS) event and her first senior international. Making her Grand Prix debut, she placed fifth at both the 2015 Skate America and 2015 Cup of China. She won bronze at her second CS assignment, the 2015 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December, and finished 8th at the 2016 U.S. Championships in January.

2016–17 season: Senior national champion

Chen began her season with the CS's U.S. Classic, placing third behind Japan's Satoko Miyahara and USA's Mariah Bell.

Competing on the Grand Prix series, Chen achieved a seventh place finish at 2016 Cup of China and a sixth place finish at 2016 NHK Trophy.

Chen won the gold medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships after placing first in both the short program and free skate. She set a new U.S. record with her short program score of 72.82.

Continuing her season at the 2017 Four Continents Championships, Chen skated to a disappointing twelfth place finish.

Chen rebounded at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships, placing fifth in the short program with a score of 69.98. She then placed sixth in the free program with a score of 129.31. With a combined score of 199.29, Chen skated to a fourth place finish overall in her first appearance at the World Championships. Her placement, combined with a seventh place finish from USA's Ashley Wagner, qualified Team USA three spots for the 2018 Olympics and 2018 World Figure Skating Championships.

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix