Karen Chen

Chen at the2017 Skate Canada International
Personal information
Born	(1999-08-16)August 16, 1999 (age 26) Fremont, California, United States
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Discipline	Women's singles
Coach	Tammy Gambill
Skating club	Peninsula Figure Skating Club, San Jose
Began skating	2005
HighestWS	10th (2021–22)
Medal record
Olympic Games 2022 Beijing Team U.S. Championships 2017 Kansas City Singles 2022 Nashville Singles 2015 Greensboro Singles 2018 San Jose Singles 2021 Las Vegas Singles World Team Trophy 2021 Osaka Team 2017 Tokyo Team

Karen Chen (born August 16, 1999) is an Americanfigure skater. She is a2022 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, two-timeCS U.S. Classic bronze medalist (2016, 2017), the2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, the2017 U.S. national champion,2022 U.S. national silver medalist, and a three-timeU.S. national bronze medalist (2015, 2018, 2021). She graduated fromCornell University in 2025.^[2]

Chen also competed at the2018 Winter Olympics, placing 11th. She has competed at sevenISU Championships, achieving her best result, fourth, at twoWorld Championships (2017,2021).

Earlier in her career, she won four medals on theISU Junior Grand Prix series, including gold at the 2013JGP Slovakia.

Karen Chen was born on August 16, 1999, inFremont, California, to Hsiu-Hui Tseng and Chih-Hsiu Chen.^[3][4] Her parents moved to the United States fromTaiwan.^[5][6] She has a younger brother,Jeffrey, who also competes for the U.S. inice dance.^[6] She was homeschooled via Connections Academy in high school.^[6] Chen has expressed interest in majoring in the medical field.^[7] She was admitted toCornell University'sSchool of Human Ecology for the Fall 2019 semester majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society on a pre-med track.^[8][9] Chen originally did not plan to take anygap years or defer her education while preparing for the2022 Winter Olympics, but decided to take a two-year leave of absence after the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[10][11][12] She graduated in May 2025 and plans to work inphysical therapy to help fellow figure skaters.^[13]

Chen's mentor is 1992 Olympic ChampionKristi Yamaguchi, who shares a hometown with her.^[14] Chen published a memoir titledFinding the Edge: My Life on the Ice in November 2017, in which she revealed that she suffers fromspondylolisthesis.^[15] Chen enjoys painting and is a fan of the Japanese characterTotoro.^[4] On 2019International Women's Day, she was chosen to be one of eight POWERGIRLs that serve as brand ambassadors for social fitness bloggerCassey Ho's activewear company, POPFLEX Active.^[16]

In September 2024, she announced her engagement to boyfriend, Len van Deurzen.^[17]

Chen began learning to skate in 2005.^[3] 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 the2013 U.S. Championships, placing fourth. She made her international debut at the 2013Gardena Spring Trophy, where she won gold on the novice level.

In the 2013–14 season, Chen received her firstISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignments. She won bronze inRiga, Latvia, followed by gold inKošice, Slovakia, and qualified for theJGP Final.^[18] While practicing a triple Lutz,^[19] she sustained a type threetibia fracture in her right ankle.^[5][20] The injury led her to withdraw from the JGP Final. Chen spent four weeks on crutches and resumed training in mid-December.^[19] She withdrew from the junior event at the2014 U.S. Championships after placing fifth in the short program.^[20] At the2014 World Junior Championships inSofia, Bulgaria, she placed sixth in the short program, ninth in the free skate, and ninth overall.

In the2014–15 JGP series, Chen won bronze atCzech Skate and silver at theCroatia Cup, respectively.^[21][22] She was awarded the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the2015 U.S. Championships, behindAshley Wagner andGracie Gold. Chen was not old enough to compete at the2015 World Figure Skating Championships and was instead assigned to the2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where she placed eighth.

Ahead of the season, Chen tried 14 pairs of skate boots.^[23] In September 2015, she finished fourth at the2015 U.S. International Classic, anISU Challenger Series (CS) event and her first senior international. Making herGrand Prix debut, she placed fifth at both the2015 Skate America and2015 Cup of China. She won bronze at her second CS assignment, the2015 Golden Spin of Zagreb in December and finished 8th at the2016 U.S. Championships in January.

Chen began her season at the2016 CS U.S. Classic, placing third behindJapan'sSatoko Miyahara and theUnited States'Mariah Bell.

On the Grand Prix series, Chen achieved a seventh-place finish at2016 Cup of China and a sixth-place finish at2016 NHK Trophy.

Chen won the gold medal at the2017 U.S. Championships after placing first in both the short program and free skate.^[24][25] She set a new U.S. record with her short program score of 72.82.

At the2017 Four Continents Championships, Chen skated to a twelfth-place finish.

Chen rebounded at the2017 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 teammateAshley Wagner, qualified Team USA three spots for the2018 Olympics and2018 World Figure Skating Championships.

Chen began her season at the CS'sU.S. International Figure Skating Classic, placing 3rd overall for the second year in a row. Before beginning competition in her Grand Prix series, Chen also performed a free skate at the Japan Open helping Team North America earn the bronze medal with a 6th-place finish.

Two weeks before her first Grand Prix event, Chen abandoned her "Carmen"-themed free skate program and replaced it with a program she choreographed herself, including music from the 1978 filmSlow Dancing in the Big City.^[26] With her new program, Chen placed 7th overall at the2017 Skate Canada International.^[27]

Chen competed in her second Grand Prix event at2017 Skate America and placed ninth in the short program after failing to land a triple loop.^[28] She improved to eighth place after the free skating, from which teammateAshley Wagner withdrew due to an ankle infection.^[29]

At the2018 U.S. Championships, Chen placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate to win the overall bronze medal. As a result, Chen was selected to represent the US at the2018 Winter Olympic Games inPyeongchang,South Korea and the2018 World Championships inMilan,Italy.^[30] She placed eleventh in the Olympics and withdrew from Worlds; she was replaced by second alternateMariah Bell after first alternateAshley Wagner declined the invitation.

Chen trained with her younger brother, ice dancerJeffrey Chen, inCanton, Michigan, during the two-month-long 2018Stars on Ice tour.^[31] She later relocated with longtime coachTammy Gambill fromRiverside, California, to Gambill's new training base at theUnited States Olympic Training Center inColorado Springs, Colorado, over the summer. Chen will also work with coachesChristy Krall andTom Zakrajsek in addition to Gambill.^[32]

Chen withdrew from early season events and her Grand Prix assignments,2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and2018 Rostelecom Cup, following an injury during the off-season.^[33] She returned to competition at the2018 CS Tallinn Trophy, where she finished ninth in the short program. Chen withdrew from the free skate due to injury.^[34] She announced her subsequent withdrawal from the2019 U.S. Championships to focus on her health in early January.^[35] Chen later revealed that she had been suffering from astress fracture in her right foot.^[36] In 2019, she also announced that she would be attendingCornell University in the fall, as well as returning to competition during the2019–20 season.

Chen returned to competition after sitting out the2018–19 season due to injury while simultaneously beginning her freshman year atCornell University. She opened her season at the 2019Philadelphia Summer International, where she won the silver medal behind training teammateYou Young ofSouth Korea. Chen then placed fourth at the2019 CS Autumn Classic International inOakville, Ontario, behindRika Kihira,Evgenia Medvedeva, andLim Eun-soo.

At her firstGrand Prix event of the season and first major international event since the2018 Olympic Games,2019 Skate America, Chen placed sixth in the short program and tenth in the free skate to finish eighth overall while battling acold andsleep deprivation.^[37] She told media that despite her struggles balancing school and skating, “I do really enjoy everything and I think I made the right decision.”^[37] At the2019 NHK Trophy, Chen placed third in the short program ahead of reigning Olympic championAlina Zagitova ofRussia but struggled in the free skate to finish ninth overall.

Before the2020 U.S. Championships, Chen worked with choreographerIlona Melnichenko to bring back theSlow Dancing in the Big City free skating program that she previously debuted and competed once at2017 Skate Canada.^[38][39] She placed fifth in the short program and fourth in the free skating to finish fourth at the U.S. Championships, behindAlysa Liu,Mariah Bell, andBradie Tennell, despite not completing a triple-triple combination in either program. Her pewter is the fourth medal that she has won at the senior level.^[39] As a result of her placement and Liu being age-ineligible for senior competition, Chen was named to the U.S. team for the2020 Four Continents Championships. She was also named as first alternate for the2020 World Championships.^[40]

Chen earned personal bests in all three segments to achieve a seventh-place finish at2020 Four Continents Championships, her highest ever after previously placing 12th twice. She told the media after her free skate, "I am proud of myself for the last competition of the season. Ending on a high note is exactly what I wanted to do."^[41]

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.^[42] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the ISU opted to make assignments for theGrand Prix based on training location to minimize international travel; Chen was correspondingly assigned to compete at2020 Skate America.^[43] She placed fourth in the short program, underrotating the triple toe loop in her jump combination.^[44] She was second in the free skate but remained in fourth place overall.^[45] Shortly after that, she competed in the 2020 Las Vegas Invitational, a domestic team event, and placed fourth among the ladies to help TeamJohnny finish second behind TeamTara.

At the2021 U.S. Championships, Chen was fourth after the short program due to several under rotations.^[46] She placed third in the free skate with only one major mistake on her triple loop. As a result, she earned the bronze medal, her third bronze at theU.S. Championships, and her fifth medal overall.^[47]U.S. Figure Skating named gold medalistBradie Tennell and Chen to the2021 World Championships team, bypassing silver medalistAmber Glenn for Chen.^[48]

In March at the2021 World Championships, Chen skated two solid programs and placed fourth. She was fourth in the short program and sixth in the free skate.^[49] Her 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 the2022 Winter Olympics via the Olympic qualifying event. Chen's role in saving the third American ladies' spot paralleled her performance at the 2017 World Championships, where she also placed fourth to help secure three spots for the 2018 Winter Olympics.^[49][12]

Chen then competed at the2021 World Team Trophy, where she finished sixth in both segments to help Team USA win the silver medal.^[50]

Chen began the season at the2021 CS Autumn Classic International, where she unexpectedly finished off the podium in fourth place, behind CypriotMarilena Kitromilis and South KoreansYou Young andJi Seo-yeon. In light of the jump errors in both programs, she vowed to "continue to work on my consistency."^[51] At her secondChallenger event of the season, the2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, Chen placed sixth.^[52]

Assigned to begin theGrand Prix at the2021 Skate Canada International, Chen was sixth in the short program. She was tenth in the free skate after falling twice and having several jumps called underrotated, and she dropped to tenth place overall. She said afterward, "practices have been solid, so it's been tough to leave Vancouver with a program like that."^[53] At her second Grand Prix event, the2021 Internationaux de France, she placed fifth overall after ranking fifth in both the short program and the free skate. She reiterated afterward that she was working on translating her improved practices to competition.^[54]

Entering the2022 U.S. Championships hoping to make her second Olympic team, Chen placed second in the short program, narrowly behindMariah Bell but a few points clear of third-placeAlysa Liu, who withdrew before the free skate due to a positiveCOVID-19 test. 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.^[55] The following day she was named to theAmerican Olympic team.^[56] Chen is the first U.S. women's singles skater sinceSasha Cohen in2002 and2006 to qualify for back-to-back Olympic teams.^[57]

Upon arrival at the2022 Winter Olympics, Chen was chosen as the American entry for the women's segments of theOlympic team event. With the United States narrowly in the lead after the first three short program segments, Chen skated her short program under significant pressure but faltered, underrotating the second half of her jump combination and falling on an underrotated triple loop. She ranked fifth, four ordinals below Russian skaterKamila Valieva, as a result of which the United States dropped behind theROC team to take the silver medal. This was her first Olympic medal. However following a positive doping test of Russia's gold medalistKamila Valieva, the team members were not awarded their medals, pending an investigation.^[58] In January 2024, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport disqualified Valieva, and the gold medal is projected to be awarded to the U.S. team.^[59] Speaking afterward about skating under pressure, Chen remarked "at the end of the day, it's coming from myself. I want to skate well for my team, for myself, my coach, my family, for all these people." However, she said she was pleased that she had recovered well from the fall.^[60] She competed again in the free skating portion of the team event, earning 131.52 points for a fourth-place finish, and winning the gold medal with the U.S. team.^[61][62] In the short program of thewomen's event, Chen made the same error she did in the team event short program, falling on her triple loop attempt, placing thirteenth in the segment.^[63] Seventeenth in the free skate with multiple jump errors, she dropped to sixteenth overall.^[64]

At the2022 World Championships, Chen placed eighth in the short program after singling her triple loop attempt.^[65] Eighth in the free skate, Chen also came eighth overall.^[66]

Following the2021–22 figure skating season, Chen decided to focus on her studies atCornell University. In fall 2022, she began competing at the collegiate level in the solo dance discipline while training at the Cornell Figure Skating Club. Regarding this, Chen stated, "Solo dance is just much more flexible. I’m not really worried about if the judges like my music or if my coach likes it. Similar to what I would do for shows, I just pick music that I like and then go from there. So it gives me a chance to be creative."^[13]

During the2024 Paris Olympics, a medal ceremony was held for Chen and her teammates from the2022 Olympic Figure Skating Team Event, where they were awarded their Olympic gold medals.^[13]

Results in the2014–15 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jan 18–25, 2015	2015 U.S. Championships	6	64.66	3	135.13	3	199.79

Results in the2015–16 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 16–20, 2015	2015 CS U.S. International Classic	3	60.94	5	98.24	4	159.18
Oct 23–25, 2015	2015 Skate America	4	62.28	6	110.26	5	172.54
Nov 5–8, 2015	2015 Cup of China	7	58.30	5	117.63	5	175.93
Dec 3–5, 2015	2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	4	56.82	3	118.53	3	175.35
Jan 16–24, 2016	2016 U.S. Championships	12	54.86	8	113.89	8	168.75
Feb 16–21, 2016	2016 Four Continents Championships	12	53.55	10	107.97	12	161.52

Results in the2016–17 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 14–18, 2016	2016 CS U.S. International Classic	6	51.50	3	110.58	3	162.08
Nov 18–20, 2016	2016 Cup of China	9	58.28	5	121.11	7	179.39
Nov 25–27, 2016	2016 NHK Trophy	7	58.76	5	119.69	6	178.45
Dec 8–11, 2016	2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb	6	54.60	7	101.03	7	155.63
Jan 14–22, 2017	2017 U.S. Championships	1	72.82	1	141.40	1	214.22
Feb 15–19, 2017	2017 Four Continents Championships	12	55.60	10	111.22	12	166.82
Mar 29 – Apr 2, 2017	2017 World Championships	5	69.98	6	129.31	4	199.29
Apr 20–23, 2017	2017 World Team Trophy	8	60.33	9	108.62	3 (9)	168.95

Results in the2017–18 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Aug 4–6, 2017	2017 Philadelphia Summer International	4	62.20	–	–	–	WD
Sep 13–17, 2017	2017 CS U.S. International Classic	2	66.18	3	116.14	3	182.32
Oct 7, 2017	2017 Japan Open	–	–	6	116.32	3	–
Oct 26–28, 2017	2017 Skate Canada International	5	61.77	7	108.63	7	170.40
Nov 24–26, 2017	2017 Skate America	9	59.53	6	123.27	8	182.80
Jan 3–5, 2018	2018 U.S. Championships	3	69.48	4	129.11	3	198.59
Feb 21–23, 2018	2018 Winter Olympics	10	65.90	11	119.75	11	185.65

Results in the2018–19 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2018	2018 CS Tallinn Trophy	9	52.93	–	–	–	WD

Results in the2019–20 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jul 31 – Aug 3, 2019	2019 Philadelphia Summer International	1	65.63	2	117.36	2	182.99
Sep 12–14, 2019	2019 CS Autumn Classic International	3	60.89	4	112.77	4	173.66
Oct 18–20, 2019	2019 Skate America	6	66.03	10	99.64	8	165.67
Nov 22–24, 2019	2019 NHK Trophy	3	67.21	11	98.49	9	165.70
Jan 20–26, 2020	2020 U.S. Championships	5	70.41	4	123.24	4	193.65
Feb 4–9, 2020	2020 Four Continents Championships	8	67.28	6	133.78	7	201.06

Results in the2020–21 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Oct 23–24, 2020	2020 Skate America	4	68.13	2	136.77	4	204.90
Jan 11–21, 2021	2021 U.S. Championships	4	70.99	3	143.99	3	214.98
Mar 22–28, 2021	2021 World Championships	4	74.40	6	134.23	4	208.63
Apr 15–18, 2021	2021 World Team Trophy	6	62.48	6	127.24	2 (6)	189.72

Results in the2021–22 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 16–18, 2021	2021 CS Autumn Classic International	5	58.01	3	114.99	4	173.00
Oct 7–10, 2021	2021 CS Finlandia Trophy	6	67.50	6	134.99	6	202.49
Oct 29–31, 2021	2021 Skate Canada International	6	68.74	10	114.67	10	183.41
Nov 19–21, 2021	2021 Internationaux de France	5	64.67	5	129.33	5	194.00
Jan 3–9, 2022	2022 U.S. Championships	2	74.55	3	139.30	2	213.85
Feb 4–7, 2022	2022 Winter Olympics (Team event)	5	65.20	4	131.52	1	–
Feb 15–17, 2022	2022 Winter Olympics	13	64.11	17	115.82	16	179.93
Mar 21–27, 2022	2022 World Championships	8	66.16	8	126.35	8	192.51

Results in the2012–13 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Jan 20–27, 2013	2013 U.S. Championships (Junior)	3	54.34	4	90.22	4	144.56

Results in the2013–14 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Aug 29–31, 2013	2013 JGP Latvia	2	58.21	4	96.05	3	154.26
Sep 12–15, 2013	2013 JGP Slovakia	1	64.46	2	114.62	1	179.08
Jan 5–12, 2014	2014 U.S. Championships (Junior)	5	51.78	–	–	–	WD
Mar 10–16, 2014	2014 World Junior Championships	6	56.09	9	99.74	9	155.83

Results in the2014–15 season ^[87]

Date	Event	SP		FS		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 3–7, 2014	2014 JGP Czech Republic	1	60.88	4	100.27	3	160.95
Oct 8–12, 2014	2014 JGP Croatia	1	62.71	3	106.70	2	169.41
Mar 2–8, 2015	2015 World Junior Championships	12	51.64	8	105.66	8	157.30

• Karen Chen at theInternational Skating Union
• Karen Chen atU.S. Figure Skating
• Karen Chen at SkatingScores
• Karen Chen atOlympics.com
• Karen Chen atOlympedia
• Official website

• 1999 births
• Living people
• American female single skaters
• American people of Taiwanese descent
• Sportspeople of Taiwanese descent
• American people of Chinese descent
• Sportspeople of Chinese descent
• Sportspeople from Fremont, California
• 21st-century American sportswomen
• Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Olympic gold medalists for the United States in figure skating
• Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics

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