Karen Chen

U.S. figure skater Karen Chen was born Aug. 16, 1999, in Freemont, Calif. She began skating in 2005, and by 2011 she had won gold at the national intermediate level, followed by a gold competing at the novice level in 2012. She placed fourth at the 2013 U.S. Championships and made her international debut with a gold at the novice level at the 2013 Gardena Spring Trophy. At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Bulgaria, she placed ninth overall. In 2015 she made her senior national debut, taking the bronze at the U.S. National Championships. She finished fourth at her first senior international event in 2015, and made her Grand Prix debut at 2015 Skate America and the 2015 Cup of China, placing fifth at both. At the 2017 U.S. Championships, Chen took the gold medal, setting a new U.S. record for short program score (72.82). She placed 12th at the 2017 Four Continents Championships but came back to place fourth overall at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships. She placed ninth at the 2017 Skate America event, and won the bronze medal at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, earning her a spot on the U.S. women's figure skating team to compete in PyeongChang, South Korea, at the Winter Olympic Games. Off the ice, she has written a book titled "Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice," which was released in November 2017.