ON TOP OF HER GAME WHEN IT REALLY COUNTS!
It is almost uncanny. Karen Chen, a 21-year-old from Fremont, California, has competed only twice at the World Championships — 2017 and 2021 — and the stakes were identical at both.
Not only were global titles and medals on the line, but also berths at an Olympic Winter Games the following year.
And to add to the mystique, those two World Championships just happened to be contested in neighboring European countries (Finland in 2017 and Sweden in 2021).
At each of those World Championships, the United States went in with two women’s entries, aspiring to land a third spot at the Olympics. It required the American skaters’ final placements to add up to 13 or less, and on both occasions they did exactly that — with Chen playing the primary role in those successes.
In 2017, it was Chen (fourth) and Ashley Wagner (seventh) getting the job done. Four years later, Chen (fourth again) and Bradie Tennell (ninth) just made the cut for three spots. However, under the new rules, that third berth must be qualified at Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany in September.
Chen is very aware of all of this, of course, but is not entirely sure how she managed to play the same important role for American figure skating on two occasions. Nonetheless, there is clearly a sense of pride in this achievement.
“I will say luck definitely did play a factor but also, I truly believe that in order to be lucky, you have to be ready to be lucky,” she said. “I do feel like I was ready to do whatever my job was, and if I got lucky, we could get the three spots. And if not, I did
