The dizzying spins and flips and flurried jumps of figure skating are unimaginably difficult enough to comprehend for those of us who don’t make a living surrounded by sequins and ice.
Imagine trying to do it blind. With your Winter Olympics destiny on the line.
That is what happened to Karen Chen, who will make her Olympic debut for the United States in the women’s individual event on Wednesday. Chen, 18, needed to skate lights out at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, last year in order for the U.S. to secure three spots at the Games instead of just two.
“There I was, in cold and dreary Finland, in the best skating shape of my life, but blind as a bat,” Chen wrote in Finding The Edge, her recent autobiography. “Really, I couldn’t see at all. I couldn’t see the crowd, read the signs around the rink…or make out any of the judges faces.”
Chen, from Fremont, Calif., has struggled with “horrible” vision since she was in second grade. For years she has worn nighttime contact lenses that are designed to improve the vision during sleeping hours, allowing the wearer to see more clearly the next day. However, during the worlds the lenses were affected by the cold conditions and did not function properly, meaning Chen’s first world championships were a blur, literally.
However, she somehow managed to skate through it, buoyed by advice from 1992 Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi. “Skate dumb,” Yamaguchi had advised, meaning that to spend too much time and energy overthinking a program was detrimental. “There was no chance of me overthinking when I couldn’t see well,” Chen added. She placed fourth, guaranteeing an extra American Olympic place.
Chen is the only member of the U.S. contingent not to skate so far at the Games, with Bradie Tennell and Mirai Nagasu having both won bronze in the team event. However, Chen is well worthy of her spot and her capacity for causing an upset should not be overlooked.
“I have been waiting and I now just want to get started,” Chen said. “Nothing has been easy, but I am very ready.”
Following Helsinki, Chen changed her prescription and has suffered no eyesight issues since, but given the performance in Helsinki it may not make a lot of difference anyway. Chen still wonders about that.
“I am always better when I am doing things by feel and instinct in any case,” she said, ahead of her Wednesday afternoon skate in the short program at Gangneung Ice Arena. “If I can bring that approach to Olympic ice then it will help me perform at my full potential.”
