United States

Fremont's Karen Chen in 10th Place Following Short Program

The 18-year-old figure skater from Fremont said she nailed her opening combination every day of practice during the week leading up to her Olympic debut in the ladies' short program.

But on Wednesday (Tuesday in the United States), she had trouble.

Karen Chen stumbled early but eventually recovered and settled for 10th place following the short program portion of the ladies' single skating competition at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.

[NBCO-GalleryFeed] Karen Chen's Childhood Photos

"Not be able to do that there and open my program with that, I was definitely a little disappointed and flustered," Chen said. "But, kind of, I was like, 'Nope, I have to stay positive.' So I just let that go and just pretended that I nailed it, and then I just continued the rest of my program and made sure I tapped a double top after the triple loop and sold my program the best I could."

Chen is currently sandwiched between fellow Americans Mirai Nagasu and Bradie Tennell following the short program. Nagasu sits in ninth place while Tennell is in 11th.

[NBCO-GalleryFeed] Model Olympian: Karen Chen

The free skating portion of the competition is slated for Friday (Thursday in the United States).

To watch Garvin Thomas' video, click here

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