At Paris Olympics, Figure Skater Karen Chen ’23 Gets Her Gold - Cornellians | Cornell University (2024)

In a much-belated ceremony, the Human Ecology student receives the top medal she and her teammates had earned in Beijing

Editor's note: This story includes some content adapted from our previous profile of Chen, which was published prior to the 2022 Olympics.

By Beth Saulnier

It was summer instead of winter—and France instead of China. But figure skater Karen Chen ’23 finally had an Olympic gold medal draped around her neck.

The Human Ecology student—who took time off from her studies to train for the Games and is now a rising senior on the Hill—had initially won silver in the team competition at the Beijing Olympiad in February 2022.

But the medal ceremony was postponed due to doping allegations involving one of the skaters on the first-place Russian squad. After an inquiry that took nearly two years, Chen and her teammates were retroactively awarded gold in early 2024.

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Of course, the delay meant that Team USA missed out on the cherished experience of receiving their medals amid raised flags and the playing of the national anthem.

But the 2024 Paris Games offered an opportunity for Chen and her eight fellow skaters to be ceremonially honored—an occasion that brought ecstatic cheers and global media attention.

"It felt really amazing to receive our medals under the Eiffel Tower," Chen told Cornellians from Paris. "Although having to wait two and a half years for this moment was not fun, it made this experience so much more unique and special for all of us."

Although having to wait two and a half years for this moment was not fun, it made this experience so much more unique and special for all of us.

Looking on the bright side, Chen notes that if the medals had been awarded in 2022, the celebration would have been muted by pandemic restrictions.

"I feel really thankful that I got to be a part of this," she says, "and that my family was able to be there with me."

The 2017 U.S. senior ladies’ national champion, Chen first ventured onto the ice at age four and began competing at six.

She won the national championships in two divisions (intermediate and novice) before taking the senior title.

Representing the USA at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she finished 11th.

“When I’m at a competition, I need to trust myself and know I’ve done all the training I can, and whatever happens, happens,” Chen observed in advance of the Beijing games.

“Sometimes it’s just not your moment—but other times it is, and everything clicks.”

Chen's résumé includes penning a young-adult memoir, Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice, which came out in 2017.

“I wish I could remember the first time I laced up a pair of skating boots and slid out onto that big, frozen circle,” she writes in the book, which features a foreword by Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. “After all, who wouldn’t want to remember the moment they fell in love?”

Now majoring in human development, Chen is planning for a career in physical therapy—"something that I had a lot of experience in as an athlete who went through several injuries."

And while she is no longer competing at the international level, she has retained her passion for the ice, currently serving as co-president of the Cornell University Figure Slating Club.

I wish I could remember the first time I laced up a pair of skating boots and slid out onto that big, frozen circle. After all, who wouldn’t want to remember the moment they fell in love?

Chen's memoir, Finding the Edge

"I hope to grow the skating community in Ithaca," she says, "as well as our competitiveness in collegiate competitions."

The elder child of Taiwanese immigrants, Chen was born in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Fremont—also the hometown of Yamaguchi, one of her idols.

To give Chen the flexibility to practice, her mother homeschooled her from sixth grade onward.

When she needed a new coach, she, her mom, and her younger brother (a competitive ice dancer) relocated six hours away and reunited with her dad on weekends.

An elite skating career followed—but ask Chen to name her highlights, and she’ll mention not just winning championships and competing on Olympic ice, but something that’s close to Cornellian hearts: skating in Lynah Rink.

In 2020, she performed one of her exhibition programs between periods of a game against St. Lawrence, to a roaring crowd of hockey Faithful.

“I’ve done a lot of shows, but the energy was incredible,” she recalls.

“I thought hockey fans and college students might think figure skating is dumb, but as soon as I got on the ice they were cheering so loudly for everything I did. It felt amazing. That was an experience I’ll never forget.”

(All images provided.)

Published August 9, 2024