With inconsistencies behind her Karen Chen looks towards Pyeong Chang Olympics

Karen Chen has had no choice but to turn into a problem solver.

In January 2017, Karen Chen became the first U.S. national champion in five years not named Ashley Wagner or Gracie Gold.

Chen won that year's U.S. national title after just a so-so season. Her next two competitions were polar opposites of each other. First up was the Four Continents Championships in South Korea, which took place in the same venue that will host Olympic competition in PyeongChang. She managed a 12th place finish.

At the time, she revealed boots (the shoe part of the figure skate itself) weren't fitting properly. It was partly due to her growth spurt and partly due to the flat shape of her foot. Additionally, the sole part of the boot had broken down and contributed to her ongoing knee pain. She has a brother not Nathan Chen, though and had even borrowed his skates at one point. Now, she has a custom boot company that fit her for skates. She'll have two pairs with her at the Games. Problem solved.

Her next competition was the world championships. On a media call before she left, Chen said she collided with another skater on the ice. She went to her acupuncturist while her leg was bruised, but otherwise she felt fine, she said. One more problem solved.

At the world championships, she was brilliant. With Olympic quota spots on the line, Chen finished fourth. She was 14.23 points off the podium and is a major reason the U.S. has three ladies entries in PyeongChang.

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